By VILNIUS. Dec 6 (Interfax-Ukraine/BNS) – The European Commission has decided to fund up to 85% of the cost of the Rail Baltica project, European Commission project coordinator Catherine Trautmann said at a conference in Riga.
The decision was reached because this project is now considered to be of high importance not only for the regional economy, but also for defense, she said.
"The [rail] link should also serve the defense of the EU and NATO, to transport military personnel and equipment. This is important also because Sweden and Finland will also become members of NATO," Trautmann said.
"This is important information for future contractors of this project: Rail Baltica is a very important and financially secure project," she said.
She said the now increased project budget and the new Rail Baltica link with Ukraine still needs to be approved by the European Parliament.
The design phase of the Rail Baltica project will be completed next year and construction is planned between 2023 and 2027, said Agnis Driksna, CEO of the Baltic States joint ventue AS RB Rail.
He said that the Rail Baltica strategy would be updated and adjusted over the next year, as would the cost analysis in the context of completed and upcoming work.
Project testing and compatibility checks will begin in 2027, and the Rail Baltica transport corridor should be completed by 2030, Driksna said.
The Rail Baltica high speed railway project with European gauge has been included in the EU’s trans-European transport network priority projects. The EC allocated it an additional 357 million euros in funding in the summer. Earlier it was reported that the project cost had increased to about 7 billion euros.
Rail Baltica should link Tallinn, Parnu, Riga, Panevezys, Kaunas, Vilnius and Warsaw. Speeds on the new rail line will reach 240 kilometers per hour for passenger trains and 120 kph for freight trains.
