During the first stage of the project from 2019 to 2023, the Daugavpils-Krustpils line and the Rezekne-Krustpils line on the route to Ventspils will be electrified. The projected cost of the first stage is €660m.
While in the second stage between 2020 to 2025, the Krustpils-Skirotava and Daugavpils-Indra lines on the route to Riga will be electrified, with a total cost of €519m.
€347m worth of EU cohesion funding is available for this project for the EU's 2014 to 2020 planning period.
Latvian Railways board chairman Edvīns Bērziņš said that this direction was picked as it's more suitable technically. While for the direction of Rīga, the company will wait for the Rail Baltica project to be carried out, so that systems planned for that rail can be used for the electrification process.
It's expected that the electrification will reduce pollution and noise while making Latvia's transit industry more competitive.
The electrification process aims to increase the proportion of electrified rails in Latvia to 59% of the total from the current 14% by 2030.
Below is an infographic showcasing the proposed electrification process, the associated costs and expected benefits.
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