Opening of information days dedicated to construction of Rail Baltica mainline

On Wednesday, December 11, in preparation for the start of the Rail Baltica mainline construction in Bauska region near Iecava, Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas, the Rail Baltica project implementer in Latvia, together with General Contractor E.R.B. Rail opened information days on the construction of the main line at Iecava Culture House.

The project implementers together with the Ministry of Transport, Iecava Municipal Association authority and Bauska Municipality Council, provided information to the cooperation organisations on the mainline construction works scheduled in Iecava for this year and in 2025, as well as presented the construction team.

Aivars Okmanis, Head of Bauska Municipality, acknowledged that Rail Baltica project is now moving from Riga and its outskirts to its starting point in Iecava municipality, where the railway line will be built, while Aivars Mačeks, Deputy Chairman of Bauska Municipality Council, expressed hope that the project construction will give a tangible contribution to the municipality and the local community, for example, in terms of new jobs.

Kristīne Malnača, Deputy State Secretary for Rail Baltica at the Ministry of Transport, emphasized that with the government’s decision of  December 10 to implement the first stage of Rail Baltica and “to secure funding for the first 40 kilometres of the southern section of the mainline, we have reached a point of no return – we just need to move forward to establish a functional rail link with Europe by 2030”.

Ēriks Diļevs, Chairman of the Board of Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas, said that next year we will already see the dynamics of the line construction, when large-scale construction works will be underway, and there are all necessary preconditions for this: construction projects had been agreed, the necessary real estate had been alienated, funding had been provided and construction and construction supervision contracts had been signed. 

Andy Swift, Project & Construction Director of E.R.B. Rail, presented the joint venture, which consists of companies experienced in the construction of strategic facilities in Europe – Eiffage Génie Civil SAS (France), Budimex S.A. (Poland) and Rizzani de Eccher S.p.A (Italy) – and the regional construction team, saying that the contractor is ready to actively cooperate with the local community in the implementation of this project. Dan Kirby, E.R.B. Rail’s QSHE Director, stressed that environmental and safety issues are a top priority for the company, both internally and for its subcontractors.

E.R.B. Rail Stakeholder Director Māris Saukāns talked about the works to be carried out soon: mobilisation of the construction site, building of the access road from the V9 motorway, establishment of a permanent regional construction office and building of the site base. He also mentioned the scope of the construction of the southern section Misa–Latvia/Lithuania border, which will include three railway bridges, five railway overpasses, 10 road overpasses, three combined road overpasses, two pedestrian crossings, two animal paths and Iecava infrastructure maintenance centre, which will be used as a construction base during the works. He also invited local businesses and suppliers to participate in the construction of Rail Baltica by registering on a special website – the supplier system https://erbrail.com/lv/piegades-kede/, and by sending questions to [email protected].

After being introduced to the project implementers and the planned construction of the railway line, the participants actively asked questions. For example, they wanted to know whether regional stations would also be built along the line, how many new jobs would be created at Iecava infrastructure maintenance centre, whether local businesses would have enough materials if raw materials from local quarries were used in the construction of the railway, etc. The Rail Baltica project team replied that the government’s construction plan for the first stage still provides for building regional stations in the southern section, including Iecava, there would be more than 200 new jobs at the infrastructure maintenance centre, and the use of local raw materials was carefully calculated so as not to reduce mining capacities, and it is considered that material deliveries would not affect the condition of the roads or the traffic volume.

The information days will continue on Thursday, December 12, and Friday, December 13, when residents of the region are invited to a meeting with experts of the Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas and E.R.B. Rail to get acquainted with the information materials on the construction of the mainline and to ask any questions they may have. Questions can be sent in advance to: [email protected].

Meetings with residents are scheduled from 12.00 to 15.00 on December 12 and from 16.00 to 19.00 on December 13. Information about the event will also be provided to local residents in the newspaper Bauska Novada Vēstnesis.

It should be reminded that the construction of the main line includes the building of Rail Baltica line outside Riga, and the first construction works will be started in the railway’s southern section as priority. The contractor is to ensure the construction of Rail Baltica mainline infrastructure for a total length of approximately 230 kilometres – the construction of track substructures and superstructures, including land preparation, embankments, construction of railway bridges, roads, underpasses, overpasses, relocation of utility networks, laying rails and ballast.

Source: Eiropas dzelzceļa līnijas, 11th of December, 2024. https://edzl.lv/jaunumi/zinas/atklaj-rail-baltica-pamattrases-buvniecibai-veltitas-informativas-dienas