News

An international team of experts has started working on a study which will evaluate the most optimal way to integrate the existing railway network and the new Rail Baltica infrastructure in a single and coordinated railway network for Latvia. Taking into consideration that several railway infrastructure projects being developed at the same time as Rail Baltica, such as infrastructure adaptation for the new rolling stock and electrification, the study will propose a clear roadmap for integrated railway infrastructure development for the Riga node.

The interim CEO of RB Rail AS, Agnis Driksna, and the representative of the OBERMEYER Planen + Beraten GmbH (Germany) and PROINTEC S.A. consortium, Jose Manuel Lendoiro, today signed a contract for engineering design and oversight of the construction of a new line from Pärnu to the Estonian-Latvian border. The signing of the contract means that the entire Rail Baltica mainline in Estonia is covered by design development works.

The joint venture of the Rail Baltica project, RB Rail AS has announced results of the “Design and design supervision services for the construction of the new line from Pärnu to the Estonian – Latvian border”. The proposal submitted by the association consisting of two international companies – OBERMEYER Planen + Beraten GmbH (Germany) and PROINTEC S.A. (Spain) – was selected as the most economically advantageous.

Last week, the quarterly Rail Baltica Task Force meeting was held in Vilnius, Lithuania. During it, the RB Rail AS interim CEO and CFO presented the progress of the project to the participants and we would like to share the presentation with you all as well! Here is the progress made in the Rail Baltica Global Project in the last quarter.

Anrī Leimanis, an independent Supervisory Board member, nominated by the Latvian shareholder, has been appointed to serve as the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of RB Rail AS, the joint venture of Rail Baltica. Ahti Kuningas and Karolis Sankovski have assumed the positions as Vice-Chairpersons.

In the framework of the Rail Baltica project, until September of 2020, the Upeslejas-Riga Central Station; Torņakalns-Imanta and Riga International Airport-Misa sections will carry out geotechnical investigations. The purpose is to obtain the necessary technical information on the composition of the soil and its physical properties for the design of the Rail Baltica main route and the development of sustainable technical solutions.

The joint venture of Rail Baltica, RB Rail AS, has carefully reviewed the findings of the joint audit, that was conducted by the state audit institutions of the Baltic States in 2019. “We fully trust and respect the findings of the joint audit, which were delivered by independent audit institutions from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,” says Agnis Driksna, interim CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of RB Rail AS. “We are committed to take action and have already started to implement necessary measures to achieve tangible change in the areas highlighted in the audit.”

Companies responsible for detailed technical design of Rail Baltica section from Kaunas to Lithuanian-Latvian state border, Spanish IDOM and Lithuanian UAB Kelprojektas, had completed site investigations for the first main line section. According Antanas Šnirpūnas, Head of RB Rail AS in Lithuania, key geodesic, geologic and geotechnical investigations had been completed in the 78 km long section Kaunas-Ramygala.

For the fourth consecutive year the Rail Baltica Global Forum will gather suppliers, professionals and experts in one of the largest events of the railway industry in the Baltic States. In 2020, the event will take place on 23 April in Riga, Latvia.

Rail Baltica has revealed the first visualisations of the future infrastructure elements, showing the design of pedestrian overpasses and tunnels, noise barriers, fences, animal passages, embankments and cuts as well as regional stations. In the new section of Rail Baltica Digital Information Center everyone is welcome to see what those infrastructure elements are, where each of them will be used and how the design and visual identity was achieved.

On 29 November, Rail Baltic Estonia signed an agreementwith Estonian structural engineering consultancy Pluss OÜ to oversee the design of Rail Baltica’s international passenger terminal in Pärnu.

Today, the cornerstone of the first construction structure on the Rail Baltica main line in Estonia, the Saustinõmme viaduct, was laid to mark the beginning of Rail Baltica’s high-speed rail link. Prime Minister of Estonia Jüri Ratas and Henrik Hololei, Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Transport, gave their welcoming remarks at today’s ceremony.

RB Rail AS Supervisory Board has appointed Agnis Driksna, the Director of Development and Communications Department at “European Railway Lines” in the capacity of the interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of RB Rail AS, who will assume his duties starting from 2 December. Agnis Driksna is highly skilled project management and development expert and fully committed to strengthen cooperation between the project stakeholders and make sure that essential project activities are accelerated. He will replace Timo Riihimäki who will end his tenure on 1 December 2019. In parallel, Supervisory Board will start the recruitment of a permanent CEO.  

The Rail Baltica joint venture, RB Rail AS, has delivered a study evaluating the essential features and requirements for the integration of airport passenger traffic with the Rail Baltica high-speed railway infrastructure. The study outlines a service description, a high-level forecast of usage, and recommendations for the detailed design for railway stations, covering all 7 international Rail Baltica passenger stations – Tallinn, Pärnu, Riga, Riga Airport, Panevėžys, Kaunas and Vilnius, and 4 Baltic airports – Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and Kaunas.