The European Commission announced this week that the next phase of Rail Baltica in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would receive EUR 928 million from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
With this decision, the European Union is also supporting the modernization of air traffic management and the purchase of a new icebreaker as efforts related to Estonia.
Estonia will also contribute EUR 3 million to the construction of AS Saarte Liinid’s charging stations in Virtsu and Kuivastu.
The European Commission has selected 107 transport infrastructure projects to receive EUR 6.2 billion in EU funding for Connecting Europe measure.
The activities financed by Rail Baltic in Estonia include the construction of railway foundations, civil engineering works, access roads and road crossings on several sections, such as the crossings from Loone to Alun, from the Harju county border to Loone, Parila, Juula and Alun. Also construction works on the Ulemiste-Soodevahe section, construction supervision services, as well as acquisition of land under the main route and related procedures in Estonia.
In Latvia, the contract calls for the construction of the main and auxiliary roads, civil engineering works, service and access roads, and the construction of substructures and associated elements for the Riga International Airport (RIX) main road sections. The construction of the Riga central axis will resume. Also, land will be acquired and construction supervision services will be procured.
The next finance arrangement in Lithuania will include both the construction of a segment of the main road between Kaunas and the Latvian border, as well as land acquisition operations.
Rail Baltica has received roughly EUR 2.7 billion in CEF and national money to date, in addition to the newly granted extra funding. (ERR/Business World Magazine)
