RIGA - The funds for further implementation of the Latvian section of the Rail Baltica railway project are to be attracted from the new multiannual budget of the European Union (EU), the draft of which currently provides for a significant increase in transport funding, Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity) told LETA.
She reminded that the 2026 state budget provides for EUR 260 million for the implementation of the Rail Baltica project, and it is important to step up the pace of construction work.
Silina said that in the medium term, the focus is on increasing EU support and strict cost discipline.
Currently, the Transport Ministry has the task of working together with the project promoters to reduce the costs of the Latvian section of Rail Baltica. The government's aim, as the prime minister explained, is to maximize support for the project in the next EU budget. "As before, the project is planned to be financed mainly from the Connecting Europe Facility, with additional funding from the Cohesion Policy and funds available for military mobility," said Silina.
She also noted that the new EU multiannual budget currently foresees a significant increase in funding specifically for transport, and these funds are planned to be mobilized for the future implementation of the Latvian section of Rail Baltica.
As reported, the costs of the Rail Baltica railway project are likely to exceed EUR 23.8 billion after the completion of phase two, the European Court of Auditors says in its report on the European Union (EU) transport infrastructure.
The report contains the European Court of Auditors' updated considerations and findings, obtained in an audit similar to one conducted in 2020. The report focuses on the costs and timelines of eight megaprojects of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), including Rail Baltica.
The European Court of Auditors concludes that the 2030 deadline for the completion the EU's core network will not be met and that the costs of two projects have increased significantly, including Rail Baltica, which has more than doubled in cost since 2020.
At the time of the 2020 special report, the official cost estimate for Rail Baltica was EUR 5.8 billion (in 2017 values). In the report, European Court of Auditors pointed out that, based on the information then available, costs might further increase and showed a risk-adjusted total cost of EUR 7 billion. In 2024, the project promoter for Rail Baltica performed a new analysis and concluded that the estimated total cost of the full TFI had risen to EUR 23.8 billion at 2023 prices.
The main reasons identified in the analysis were the lack of maturity and detail in the previous estimates (which accounted for around half of the increase) and changes in the project scope and design. A joint audit report from the national audit institutions of the three Baltic countries involved largely confirmed this analysis. The promoter highlighted the risk that the new estimate might still not be fully accurate, as there were mature design studies (on which the estimate was based) for only one third of the total distance.
The total cost of the project could reach EUR 23.8 billion in the Baltics according to the cost-benefit analysis. A previous cost-benefit analysis in 2017 estimated the total cost of the project at EUR 5.8 billion.
The Rail Baltica project will build a European standard gauge railway line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border to connect the Baltic States with other European countries by rail. A new 870-kilometer European-standard (1,435 mm) railway line with a maximum train speed of 240 kilometers per hour will be built in the Baltic States.
Rail Baltica is a double-track, European standard 1,435 mm gauge electrified railway for passenger and freight transport to be built from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border. The overall length of the railway will be 870 kilometers.
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