HELSINKI, SEPT 8 – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said yesterday they are committed to completing a financially troubled and long-delayed high-speed rail project by 2030 to integrate the three Baltic states with the continental European rail network.
The project is set to connect the Baltic capitals of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius on a new track with passenger trains at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour, where it was launched in 2014 as a Baltic-wide joint venture with funding mainly provided by the European Union (EU).
Estonian Infrastructure Minister Vladimir Svet said yesterday after an initial meeting with the Transport Ministers of Latvia and Lithuania, “It is our goal to start passenger and freight train services on the entire Rail Baltica route from 2030.
“However, we still need to observe cost growth and find ways to save money and build more efficiently,” he said in a statement.
While early 2010 plans put the total cost of the project at around 3.5 billion euros (US$3.9 billion), a joint June report by auditors from the three Baltic states showed increased costs of the venture and said the project could require up to 19 billion euros (US$21 billion). – AP
