Rail Baltica can be crossed out from EU top-priority project list

Therailroad project of the European track Rail Baltica, which is beingplanned for about ten years, can be crossed out of the top-priorityEU project list. This information was confiremed on Monday [19. Oct]by Lithuanian Minister of Transport and Communication EligijusMasiulis. Judging by his words, this decision willbe a great loss for Lithuania, as it is not yet connected with any European railroad.

«...thisproject can be exceeded from the EU top-priority list, that is why,todays conference, dedicated to Rail Baltica, is an acknowledgment byLithuania and several other countries, that this project mustcontinue and that it is relevant, despite the crisis. (...) We think,that it is possible to lead the European track on the existing moundso far as Kaunas. Then it won't be necessary to buy out thousands ofparcels of land, which can cost hundreds of millions lit. In thiscase the construction of Rail Baltica to Kaunas could finish in theend of the yea 2013 with halving the expanses...",-said theMinister.

Hehas also mentioned, that Rail Baltica's freezing can be done, becausethe actualization of the project lies on several countries. Forexample, Latvia has announced, that because of the crisis, it shoulddelay the realization of the project on two years.

"Itmust be admitted, that Lithuania, despite some loud statements,didn't really advance in project's actualization in the past tenyears. The problems also exist on the Polish side... ",- saidMasiulis, who is taking part in the forum, dedicated to transportsdevelopment in Asia and Europe.