Rail Baltica receives additional €1.1bn funding to support sub-projects

RB Rail AS, the joint venture overseeing the planned high-speed Rail Baltic link across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, has signed an agreement, which will bring it an additional €1.1 billion from the European Cohesion Fund. This is in addition to co-financing from all three countries.

The new financing will support several important Rail Baltica sub-projects in Estonia (Photo: AdobeStock)

The new financing will support several important Rail Baltica sub-projects in Estonia.

This includes the underpinning of the line, construction of road crossings, and other infrastructure.

Specifically, the funding will be allocated for various stretches in Northern Estonia, such as Loone to Alu in Rapla County, the area between the Harju/Rapla county line and Loone, and crossings at Alu, Parila (Harju County) and Juula (Rapla County).

Regarding Latvia, the funds will be utilized for the construction of a new station in Riga, as well as for the development of infrastructure near Riga airport.

In Lithuania, the funds will also be used for improving the infrastructure, with the railway line passing through the more central location of Kaunas instead of Vilnius.

An updated cost-effectiveness analysis is scheduled for the end of 2024 to reassess the project’s socio-economic benefits, secure additional financing, and optimise implementation.

Rail Baltica will run North-South from Tallinn to the Lithuanian/Polish border, improving connections between “continental” Europe and the Baltic States and also Finland, to the North.