Lithuanian Railways set to purchase rails from Latvia, Austria for EUR 36.5 mln

VILNIUS - Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LG) is planning to purchase 36.5 million euros' worth of rails for track repairs this year and next year, with the first 11.5-million-euros contract already signed with Latvia's rail supplier Sigmen.

Preliminary contracts with the winning bidders – Sigmen and Voestalpine VAE Legetecha, a joint venture of Voestalpine and LG that manufactures railroad switches – were signed last December, according to information on Lithuania's central public procurement website.

"Rails are being purchased for scheduled track repairs and routine maintenance to ensure safe and uninterrupted passenger and freight train traffic," Arvydas Dveilys, director of the Operation Department at LG's Railway Infrastructure Directorate, told BNS.

The state railway operator plans to replace worn rails on various railway sections, he added.

The duration of the contracts is two years, with an option to extend them for another two years.

Sigmen has been supplying rails to LG since 2016. The Latvian company was awarded contracts worth 2.1 million euros in 2016, 2.7 million euros in 2017 and 7.3 million euros in 2018.