Rail Baltica: Planned Infrastructure at Kaunas Railway Node

Another stage of the spatial planning of the European gauge railway Rail Baltica is being finalised — the specific solutions for the Kaunas railway node have been approved. All interested parties will soon be invited to get acquainted with the engineering infrastructure planned in the special territorial planning document within a period of two months.

“The Kaunas railway node is one of the most important elements of Rail Baltica. It will be a major logistic centre, linking freight routes from North-West and Central Europe, as well as transit freight from the East and the Seaport of Klaipėda. This node is particularly important for the smooth handling of freight and passenger services, and we therefore give priority to its rapid development,” says Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Loreta Maskaliovienė.

The Kaunas Railway Station envisages the construction of 1,435 mm gauge main as well as arrival and departure tracks next to the existing Kaunas station building and the relocation of 1,520 mm gauge tracks to the southern side of the station. In addition, a railway track is to be built on the sections Palemonas–Kaunas–Jiesia and Palemonas–HES–Rokai–Jiesia. A total of 120.8 km of railway tracks, 70 turnouts and 12 two-level railway and road intersections will be built or reconstructed. The entire planned railway section will be electrified and electrically-powered locomotives will run on it.

The construction of the Kaunas railway node will also include 5 new railway viaducts and 2 new bridges over the Jiesia River, as well as the reconstruction or widening of 5 existing bridges. Also, there are plans to build a railway tunnel for the planned double-track railway in the vicinity of the Palemonas station, to install 7 car tunnels for safe movement of pedestrians and cars, reconstruct car viaducts, and install pedestrian crossings.

“The development of the Kaunas railway node is not only an important step in the context of the implementation of the Rail Baltica project. The development of this railway node, which is important for the Rail Baltica project, will boost the socio-economic growth of the whole region through the creation of new transport connections, the development of the necessary infrastructure, and the creation of new jobs. In addition, the spatial planning process focuses on environmental protection, as this section of the railway includes a Natura 2000 site,” says Dovydas Palaima, General Manager at LTG Infra Rail Baltica Management.

The site planned for the Kaunas railway node will include about 1.6 hectares of priority habitats of European importance. Together with the European Commission, solutions are being sought to accommodate environmental and infrastructure development priorities.

The owners and users of the parcels of land, where the Kaunas railway node and the related facilities are planned to be built, and the owners and users of the neighboring parcels of land will be informed about the prepared concrete solutions soon via the E-delivery system, and they will be given notices by registered mail.

Rail Baltica is the largest railway infrastructure project in the history of the Baltic States, which will build a fully electrified double-track European gauge railway connecting Warsaw, Kaunas, Vilnius, Panevėžys, Riga, Pärnu, and Tallinn. The total length of Rail Baltica in the Baltic States is 870 km, with 392 km in Lithuania, 265 km in Latvia, and 213 km in Estonia.

Relevant References and Information to the Public

The prepared draft document of the special territorial planning will soon be available on:

Frequently asked questions (in Lithuanian): here.

20.12.2022