The presidents of the three Baltic States met in the Latvian capital, Riga, on 4 December 2025 for their annual pre-Christmas meeting, LSM and BNS reported. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said that key issues discussed included defence and security, border protection, and support for Ukraine. He emphasised that “if you look at the map, the…
A rail link to the Latvian capital, Riga, is planned to be built in the second phase of the Rail Baltica railway project, Marko Kivila, CEO of the Baltic joint venture, RB Rail, told LETA. He noted that the Baltic States had not agreed on a timetable for the second phase yet. There would be…
The three Baltic States must agree on a new financing model for the Baltic joint venture, RB Rail, which manages the Rail Baltica railway project, CEO Marko Kivila and CFO Ojars Daugavietis stressed, LETA reports. Kivila noted that RB Rail’s budget remains largely unchanged in 2025, and that the company has therefore halted hiring and…
The coordination committee of the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility has approved another EUR 295.5mn of funding for the Baltic railway project, Rail Baltica, LSM reports. Of the total, EUR 47.1mn will go to Estonia, EUR 153.5mn to Latvia, and EUR 94.9mn to Lithuania. The project coordinator, RB Rail, said that the funds would be…
Estonia’s state-owned passenger train operator, Eesti Liinirongid (Elron), plans to open a direct train connection between Tartu in southern Estonia and the Latvian capital, Riga, in summer 2025, BNS reports. Elron will soon begin test runs between Valga and Riga. CEO Lauri Betlem said that the authorisation of trains in Latvia had taken much longer…
The passenger train operators of the three Baltic States will open an easier connection from Tallinn via Tartu and Riga to Vilnius on 6 January 2025, BNS reports, citing Vooremaa. The new connection harmonises carrier timetables and will include two transfers. The whole journey from Tallinn to Vilnius will take around 10.5 hours in total,…
The Estonian company, Tiigi Keskus, has acquired the state-owned rail freight operator, Operail, at a privatisation auction for EUR 19mn, ERR reports. Richard Tomingas, board member of Tiigi Keskus, said that Operail would continue providing rail services, particularly container transportation, in Estonia and expand its operations later if possible. Following the deal, the Estonian state…
The passenger train operators of the three Baltic states will begin coordinating their timetables to enable a smooth connection between the Baltic capitals, LSM reports. Estonia’s Elron, Latvia’s Vivi, and Lithuania’s LTG Link plan to align the timetables as of 6 January 2025. Transfer times at Valga and Riga will be around 10-20 minutes. The…
The Latvian government has failed to pay nearly EUR 1mn to the Baltic joint venture, RB Rail, which coordinates the development of the Rail Baltica railway project, LSM reports. A member of RB Rail’s board told TV24 that the company’s staff were currently being paid from Estonian and Lithuanian money. The three Baltic States have…