News

On 27 June 2019, the RB Rail AS team had the honour to meet Ms. Amélie de Montchalin, the French Minister of State for European Affairs, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs to present the development of the Rail Baltica project, focusing on the European nature of this initiative. In addition, we reflected on excellent cooperation with French institutions, railway industry associations and French companies involved in the project delivery.

Preparations for the detail technical design of Rail Baltica continue, as site investigations are carried out in Kohila, Rapla, Kehtna and Northern Pärnumaa parishes. The fieldworks with necessary measurements and analyses began in May and are carried out by experts from three companies – OÜ Reaalprojekt, Reib OÜ and Rei Geotehnika OÜ.

As Rail Baltica main line design and design supervision procurement procedures enter the final stage, we are reflecting on the tendering results and re-evaluating our approach and requirements to identify any potential improvement areas. From summer 2019 onwards, Rail Baltica main line design services will be ongoing already in 6 sections out of 11, covering nearly half of the total track length.

On 14 June 2019 the Joint Venture of Rail Baltica signed new design contracts to commence the design of two sections of the Rail Baltica main line – one in Estonia and one in Lithuania. Both contacts will be implemented by a Spanish company IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture S.A.U. The new contracts will cover the next 139 km of Rail Baltica main line. As a result, currently the design works are ongoing in 288 km of the new high-speed railway track.

On 31 May, the shareholders of the Rail Baltica Join Venture RB Rail AS – Rail Baltic Estonia OU, SIA Eiropas dzelzceļa līnijas and Rail Baltica statyba UAB – have approved a new Supervisory Board with the following members: Karolis Sankovski, CEO of Rail Baltica Statyba, Riia Sillave, CEO of Rail Baltic Estonia OU, Anri Leimanis, Vice-Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of Latvijas Mobilais Telefons, Anti Moppel, Advisor to the Deputy Secretary General for Transport at Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia, Ligita Austrupe, Deputy State Secretary of Ministry of Transport of Latvia and Romas Švedas, Chairman of the Implementation Committee of UN Espoo Convention.

Following the best international practices to inform society about the project progress and ongoing activities, RB Rail AS, the joint venture of the Rail Baltica project, has launched a digital information center that all interested parties can visit and get more information regarding benefits, route and other aspects of the Rail Baltica project.

The winner for the tender “Design and design supervision services for the construction of the new line from Ramygala to Lithuanian/Latvian state border” was announced by the Rail Baltica joint venture. The winning proposal was submitted by IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture, S.A.U. amounting to EUR 7 968 873 (without VAT). The contract will be signed after completion of all necessary procedures.

International tender  has successfully closed, and the winner to carry out design and construction works of the most important Rail Baltica object in Latvia has been chosen. On 29 May this year, “Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas”, implementer of the Rail Baltica project in Latvia, signed the contract with the winner of the tender – joint venture “BESIX RERE GROUP” (N.V. BESIX S.A. (Belgium) and LLC (SIA) “RERE BŪVE” (Latvia)). Implementation of Rail Baltica project will result in modern, multi-modal traffic hub in the centre of Riga improving mobility, safety and availability, as well as connecting two parts of the city. The new bridge will also allow pedestrians and cyclists to cross the river.

On 21 May, Rail Baltica Business Club, established during the Global Forum 2019 in Vilnius, welcomed the key business and institutional stakeholders to a high-level discussion “Rail Baltica infrastructure management: local and international business perspective”.

The joint venture of the Rail Baltica project RB Rail AS has announced the winner of the “Design and design supervision services for the construction of the new line from Tallinn to Rapla”. The offer of a Spanish company IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture was chosen as the most economically advantageous amounting to EUR 11 363 907. The contract with the winner will be signed after completion of all necessary procedures.

This week the joint venture of the Rail Baltica project RB Rail AS announced the winner in the tender “Design and design supervision services for the construction of the new line on the section Vangaži–Salaspils–Misa”. The offer from the association of Egis Rail S.A., DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH and Olimps Ltd was chosen as the most economically advantageous amounting to EUR 12 024 529. The contract with the winner will be signed after completion of all necessary procedures.

10 May 2019, Riga – the joint venture of the Baltic States RB Rail AS announced the winner in the tender “Design and design supervision services for the construction of the mainline section through Riga”. The winning proposal amounting to 12 989 200 EUR was submitted by a group of two Spanish companies consisting of IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture and Ingeniería y Economía del Transporte (INECO). It is expected that the contract with the winner will be signed in June after completion of all necessary procedures, including a 10 day stand still period.

Rail Baltica team and representatives of Pärnu district municipalities and business community discussed the findings of the study about a potential rail freight terminal in Pärnu surroundings. The study assessed the potential users of the terminal, cargo volumes and directions as well as economic viability of the project. In addition, the study identified tentative locations for the terminal and defined the basic requirements regarding space, layout, functions and equipment.

Today the Supervisory Board of RB Rail AS has approved the resignation of Kaspars Rokens from his position as the Chief Operating Officer of RB Rail AS. He leaves the company for private reasons.

On 3 April, 2019, during the Rail Baltica Global Forum, the contract to commence the design services for the railway section from Kaunas to Ramygala in Lithuania was signed by the representatives of the Rail Baltica Joint Venture RB Rail AS and the Spanish company IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture.