RIGA - Euphoric over the impressive jump in freight handling, Latvijas Dzelcels (Latvian Railway) has announced it is considering the construction of a new railway bridge across the Daugava River.
Aija Poca, a development manager at the company, told the Baltic News Service that the location of the new bridge has yet to be determined but that it would be designed to facilitate freight movement along the left bank of the Daugava to Riga Free Port without having to cross downtown Riga.
She said the bridge's exact location would be determined after a feasibility study is concluded.
"Initially, we planned to combine this bridge with the Riga Northern Tunnel project, but considering this is an extremely costly project, we think now that it could be constructed somewhere else," Poca said.
She said it is possible that the new bridge might be built beyond the Skirotava railway station or the Riga hydroelectric power station.
"Basically, this project is meant for the left bank of the Daugava, because in the future the operations of Riga port will be moved [there]. So there is an idea to build a new bypass in the Jelgava direction and then north to Bolderaja without using the existing Riga railway bridge," Poca said.
The existing railway bridge crosses the Daugava in downtown Riga, forcing all freight traffic through the passenger station.
Poca said it was too early to speak about the deadlines of the new project, as they depended on the feasibility study that could be ready around mid-2009.
"A tender commission at the Transport Ministry is currently actively working on the rules of a tender on the feasibility study," Poca said, adding that the research would be funded by the EU.
Freight handling at Latvian Railway is growing rapidly and may set a new record this year, the company has said.
The company has forecast 55 million tons of cargo this year, which would beat the previous record of 54.8 million tons set in 2005.
In the first four months the company's cargo subsidiary, LDz Cargo, carried 18.6 million tons of cargo, up 14.5 percent year-on-year.
In 2007 the company's total freight handling amounted to 52.1 million tons, up 7 percent from the year before.
The company has benefited from Russia's decision to redirect cargo flows away from Estonia following the latter's decision to move a Soviet war memorial in downtown Tallinn in April 2007.
