News

“The Rail Baltica Global Project will create opportunities for people in the region to increase their welfare from the design and construction phases of the project,” said Timo Riihimäki, CEO and Chairperson of the Management Board of RB Rail AS, addressing the Rail Baltica Global Forum participants on 3 April in Vilnius. “In addition, current megatrends – urbanization, digitalization and climate change, are all in favor of Rail Baltica, which will provide efficient transportation solutions for passengers and freight and will help the region to address challenges posed by the climate change.” 

With the address of Saulius Skvernelis, the Prime Minister of Lithuania, the Rail Baltica Global Forum will open tomorrow in Vilnius. The two-day annual forum gathers more than 700 executives, decision makers, rail, logistics, economics experts and potential suppliers from across Europe to discuss the potential of Rail Baltica for the region and common transport infrastructure developments in Europe.

On 29 March 2019, representatives of the Rail Baltica Joint Venture RB Rail AS and the Spanish company IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture signed the contract in Tallinn to commence the design services for the railway section from Pärnu to Rapla in Estonia. This is the first design contract signed for the main line of the Rail Baltica with six more to follow shortly.

On 15 March, RB Rail AS procurement commission opened financial proposals in the tender for the design and design supervision services for the construction of the mainline section through Riga. Earlier on 5 March the proposals were opened for the Design and design supervision services for the construction of the new line on the section Vangaži – Salaspils – Misa.

On March 6, 2019, Aivar Jaeski, Estonia branch head and country manager for Estonia and Finland of RB Rail AS, participated in a conference on Interreg projects and TEN-T Policy implementation.

Rail Baltica high-speed trains from Tallinn to Warsaw and from Tallinn to Vilnius are estimated to run four times per day once the line is launched and up to six times per day within 10 years of operations. Additionally, up to ten trains per day will run on Vilnius-Kaunas-Warsaw route. As a result, Rail Baltica will provide a fast rail connection between the Baltic capitals every two hours.

This week Rail Baltica team is participating in Rail Live conference in Bilbao, Spain, presenting the project with an info stand, networking with industry professionals and seeking new business connections. During the second day of the conference, on March 6, Kaspars Rokens, the Chief Operating Officer and member of the Management Board, RB Rail AS, represented the Rail Baltica project and introduced the importance of this cross-border megaproject in connecting European and Baltic hubs. 

On 27 February, RB Rail AS procurement commission for the competition “Design and design supervision services for the construction of the new line from Kaunas to Ramygala” announced the winner – a Spanish company IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture, S.A.U. This procurement process was the second out of seven tenders carried out by RB Rail AS to commence the design works on the main line of Rail Baltica.

On 25 February, RB Rail AS procurement commission for the competition “Design and design supervision services for the construction of the new line from Pärnu to Rapla” announced the winner – a Spanish company IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture, S.A.U. This procurement process was the first out of seven procurements carried by RB Rail AS to commence the design works on the main line of Rail Baltica.

The team of joint venture of the Rail Baltica project congratulates Catherine Trautmann, European Coordinator of the TEN-T North-Sea Baltic Corridor, upon receiving the European Railway Award 2019. Award was presented by UNIFE, the Association of the European Railway industry, and CER, Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, on February 20.

Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University (IIRPS) and RB Rail AS (main coordinator of the Rail Baltica Global Project) are organizing the debate on the Baltic co-operation and Rail Baltica. Together with academics and experts from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania we want to identify enablers and blockers in the current cooperation between the states.

In February 2018, the joint venture coordinating the Rail Baltica Global Project RB Rail AS, and the French consultancy firm Egis Rail SA, signed an agreement to carry out the study to improve connectivity between Old City Harbour in Tallinn and the planned Rail Baltica Ülemiste passenger terminal. The aim of the study was to develop the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) in the North Sea-Baltic corridor and was co-financed under the Rail Baltica project by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

Vilnius / Lithuania – Today Supervisory Board of RB Rail AS appointed Timo Riihimäki as Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Management Board of the Rail Baltica Joint Venture. He will start his duties from 11 March 2019 and will be based in Riga.

The joint venture of the three Baltic states RB Rail AS has commenced the Study for the Development of the Rail Baltica Energy Subsystem Procurement and Deployment Strategy. The contract for the delivery of the Study was signed in January 2019 with the Consortium INECO – ARDANUY, consisting of Ingenería y Economía del Transporte S.M.E. M.P., S.A (INECO) and ARDANUY Ingenería, S.A (ARDANUY). Both Consortium partners have proven experience in the railway sector and specifically in energy subsystem.

On 1 February 2019 the Government of Finland decided to establish a limited liability company Oy Suomen Rata AB. Its subsidiary, the Rail Baltica company, is expected to become a shareholder of RB Rail AS, the joint venture of the Rail Baltica project.