He said that the most important thing at Riga Central Station right now is to complete the construction works in the southern part, so that the existing railway traffic can be diverted there. Accordingly, the construction works of the first phase of the station must be put into operation – a roof must be put on, rooms must be installed so that passengers can fully use this train service.
“The minimum amount requires 114 million euros. In order to transfer a fully functional part of this station and strengthen the structures of the northern side, it needs approximately 150 million euros in total. For this 114 million, we can ensure the functionality of the southern part of the station, which is part of the European Union (EU ) redistribution of funds, which we want as a matter of urgency,” Dilev said.
He added that the works at the Riga Central Station must be continued sequentially – one after the other. The works cannot be paused as this has a significant impact on the associated infrastructures. “This is burning. If we finish the started works – a flyover with 1520 millimeter (mm) tracks and signaling – and do not finish the station building itself, the train cannot stop at the station in principle,” said Dilevs.
The existing works are planned to be completed by the end of 2025, for which financing is also available in full. “However, technologically, it is necessary to complete the works at the station itself in order to fully complete the track superstructure works for this southern part. This could be done by the second half of 2026 and passenger traffic could begin,” said Diļevs.
He also informed that the current debts owed to the builder of Riga Central Station have been paid, however, an invoice for another 13 million has been submitted, which includes not only the indexation, but also the completed works, which are financed from the available funds of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
Commenting on the forecast that these debts will reach 51 million euros by the end of the year, Dilev said that this forecast was based on the worst inflation scenario. “Accordingly, the provisionally estimated invoices with the builder would be around 30 million euros by the end of the year,” Dilev said.
The current contract price of “Rail Baltica” Riga Central Node is 565 million euros in total, excluding inflation. Among them, 24% of the contract price consists of reconstruction works of the station building, 30% – 1435 mm railway infrastructure and related works, 23% – 1520 mm railway infrastructure and works, and 15% – the bridge over the Daugava. The contract also includes design and construction supervision.
Currently, the attracted financing amounts to approximately 293 million euros.
It has already been reported that the Ministry of Transport (MoT) has prepared an informative report in which it proposes to create a 1,520 mm connection from Riga Central Passenger Station to Riga Airport during the 2021-2027 EU multi-year budget period before the completion of the first phase of the “Rail Baltica” project, while the financing is planned attract by redistributing EU fund financing from other SM infrastructure projects, including the purchase of battery electric trains (BEMUs).
It is also reported that according to the research report on the situation of the “Rail Baltica” project carried out by the highest audit institutions of the Baltic States, there is currently no clarity about the model of operation and management of the “Rail Baltica” railway line.
According to the data of the latest analysis of costs and benefits of “Rail Baltica”, the total costs of the railway line in the Baltics may reach 23.8 billion euros, including the costs of the first round of the project in the Baltics could be 15.3 billion euros, of which in Latvia – 6.4 billion euros. In the previous cost-benefit analysis in 2017, it was estimated that the project would cost a total of 5.8 billion euros.
In Latvia, the construction of the main line of “Rail Baltica” is planned to start in 2024.
The “Rail Baltica” project envisages the creation of a railway line of European standard gauge from Tallinn to the border of Lithuania and Poland, so that it would be possible to connect the Baltic states with other European countries by rail. In the Baltic States, it is planned to build a new, 870-kilometer-long railway line of European gauge (1435 millimeters) with a maximum train speed of 240 kilometers per hour.