Latvia’s state-owned railway company, Latvijas Dzelzcels (LDz), has signed an agreement with the Finance Ministry’s Central Finance and Contracts Agency (CFLA) on a project to build a new railway line to Riga International Airport, LSM reports. Under the contract, LDz and state-owned Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas (EDZL) plan to build a new branch line from the future Rail Baltica railway station in Imanta to the airport by the end of 2029. The connection will have a shuttle train running between the airport and Riga Central Station. In addition, LDz and EDZL will modernise the existing railway lines from Riga to Imanta and Ogre. Total funding for the project will amount to EUR 264.177mn, of which EUR 224.550mn will come from the EU’s Cohesion Fund and the remaining EUR 39.626mn from Latvia’s state budget.
Meanwhile, the Latvian government has decided to set a ceiling of EUR 20 per kilometre on the cost of the construction of the Rail Baltica railway, LSM reports. However, the figure only includes a single track, electrification, and signalling, not major structures. The plan is to build no more than four regional stations. Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said that the decision would save billions of euros. Until now, the construction of the railway has cost around EUR 28-32 per km, LETA reports. The Ministry of Finance has estimated that the first phase of the railway project would cost EUR 7.5bn. Kulbergs said that the actual cost would become clearer by December 2026. Earlier, the prime ministers of the three Baltic States agreed that the first phase would be completed by 2034 instead of the earlier deadline of 2030.