Rail Baltic reveals first visuals of future infrastructure

TALLINN – Rail Baltic has revealed the first visualizations of the future infrastructure elements of the railroad project, showing the design of pedestrian overpasses and tunnels, noise barriers, fences, animal passages, embankments and cuts as well as regional stations of the new railroad to be built from the Estonian capital to the Lithuanian-Polish border.

Visualizations of the infrastructure elements, which are available in the new section of Rail Baltic Digital Information Center, are a part of a larger project implemented by RB Rail AS in partnership with Italian architectural and design company 3TI Progetti.

During this project, 3TI Progetti developed architectural, landscaping and visual identity design guidelines for the entire Rail Baltic network. These guidelines provide harmonized solutions for the infrastructure elements to be applied in all three Baltic states, RB Rail said in a press release Monday.

Agnis Driksna, acting CEO of RB Rail AS, said that the architectural and visual guidelines aim to provide railway designers and architects with clear instructions on how to ensure a common identity to all the elements of the railway network.

"It was a challenging task, but we have managed to align different expectations and ambitions of each country into a common approach which defines the identity of the Rail Baltica network," the acting CEO said.

Importantly, during the preparation of the network identity, numerous stakeholder groups were involved to capture their expertise and to identify their expectations regarding the visual appearance of the Rail Baltic infrastructure. Those included architects, landscape architects, universities, railway administrators and municipalities in all three Baltic states.

Furthermore, RB Rail AS explored and addressed the needs of various passenger groups including people with reduced mobility, parents with young infants and senior citizens to ensure that the Rail Baltic infrastructure will be accessible and safe for all passengers.

RB Rail is the central coordinator for the Rail Baltic project. RB Rail shareholders include the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian railway companies, UAB Rail Baltica Statyba, SIA Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas and Rail Baltic Estonia OU.

Rail Baltic 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.