Currently, 20% of the land plots needed for the Rail Baltica project have been expropriated in Latvia, said Ēriks Diļevs, Chairman of the Board of European Railway Lines LLC (EDzL), at the international conference “Look at the Future of Mobility 2024” on Thursday, the 21st of November.
“Meanwhile, 45% of the land expropriations are in progress, where we foresee that 1 033 land plots will be expropriated by the end of this year,” said Diļevs.
He explained that these are mainly land plots in the southern part of the Riga Ring, as well as in the northern direction – in Limbaži, Salaspils and Ropaži municipalities.
Diļevs explained that opinions have been expressed that land expropriation is slow, which is why the project organisers are proposing changes in legislation that could speed up the process. “Of course, the public may not like it, but we have to look at the interests of the project in order to implement it faster. So the pace of land acquisition also needs to be accelerated,” Diļevs added.
He added that in Latvia, the design work on the 110-kilometre section of the main line of Rail Baltica is ready to be handed over to the construction contractor. “Each construction permit is individual, but EDzL hands them over to the builder for review. Those construction permits that have been approved by the State Railway Technical Inspectorate mean, in principle, that construction work is ready to start there,” Diļevs explained.
He informed that two such building permits have now been received, the others have been submitted to the Inspectorate, after which the builder submits a feasibility study, a timetable and the EDZL gives authorisation for practical construction work to start.
He said that the practical works will start first at the Iecava construction base, adding that information on the public events to be held in Iecava will be available soon and will also be addressed to the residents so that they can familiarise themselves with the scope and timetable of the construction activities.
“In principle, we will start the physical works in Iecava this year. EDzL is also talking to the contractor about how to start the construction works on the main route, as the forest is currently being cleared, and clearing works have been ordered towards the Lithuanian border. All preliminary works are in progress,” Diļevs noted.
It has already been reported that according to the Rail Baltica project situation study report carried out by the supreme audit institutions of the Baltic States, there is currently no clarity on the Rail Baltica railway line operation and management model.
According to the latest information from RB Rail, the cost of the first phase of Rail Baltica in the Baltics could reach 14.3 billion euros, of which 5.5 billion euros in Latvia, but there are potential savings of up to 400 million euros from optimisation of technical solutions, as well as other savings.
The total cost of the project could reach 23.8 billion euros in the Baltics according to the cost-benefit analysis. A previous cost-benefit analysis in 2017 estimated the total cost of the project at 5.8 billion euro.
The Rail Baltica project will build a European standard gauge railway line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border to connect the Baltic States with other European countries by rail. A new 870-kilometre European-standard (1 435 millimetre) railway line with a maximum train speed of 240 kilometres per hour will be built in the Baltic States.
Also read: OPINION | Rail Baltica’s endless appetite
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Publish date : 2024-11-21 15:59:00
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