Construction process of Rail Baltica station and related infrastructure has officially commenced at Latvia’s Riga International Airport.
To mark the occasion, a ceremony was held and attended by officials from the Ministry of Transport in Latvia, the Rail Baltica joint venture RB Rail, SIA Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas, and other stakeholders.
The project, which will continue until December 2025, will be executed in five phases.
Construction works are planned to be implemented in stages to limit disruption in the airport’s operation.
As part of the first stage, Rail Baltica infrastructure will be built from the current railway station Imanta to the Riga International Airport.
The station terminal, which is expected to be completed in March or April of 2023, will also be constructed in this phase.
These works will take place on the basis of the winning project in the open international competition.
This project was submitted by PROSIV, (Sintagma (Italy), Prodex (Slovakia) and Vektors T (Latvia)), an association of three firms from three different nations.
The EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) infrastructure financing instrument is providing nearly 81-85% of the total Rail Baltica project’s eligible outlays.
On the other hand, Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian State budgets will cover the remaining expenses.
Latvian Minister of Transport Tālis Linkaits said: “Rail Baltica station at the Riga Airport will strengthen the role of the capital of Latvia as the Baltic and Nordic aviation centre.
“It will contribute considerably to improving the airport’s connectivity both with our neighbouring countries and within our country, as well as enable Riga Airport as a convenient, modern and multimodal transport and business centre.”
In March this year, the BSL Infra consortium secured the contract for the construction of the Rail Baltica station and its associated infrastructure.
The consortium, which includes Austrian company Swietelsky and Latvian construction companies SIA Binders and AS LNK Industries, was awarded the contract after winning the international tender.
