The SM wants to do this within the 2021-2027 European Union (EU) multiannual budget period, before the completion of the first phase of the Rail Baltica project. The funding is to be raised by reallocating EU funds from other MoT infrastructure projects, including the purchase of battery electric trains.
The report says that an "optimized technical solution" has been developed for the railway connection from Riga Central Station to Riga Airport – meaning, in essence, that international passengers traveling on the Rail Baltica line would still have to change their transportation in order to get to the airport.
The Rail Baltica project creates new railway infrastructure with a European gauge of 1435 mm. Replacement of the entire existing 1520 mm track network with 1435 mm is not economically viable and feasible at least in the next decades, so the Latvian rail network will consist of 1435 mm and 1520 mm lines in the future.
The proposals include a 1520 mm rail link from Riga Central Passenger Station to Riga Airport and the completion of both stations so that they can be used for existing passenger trains before the first phase of Rail Baltica is completed.
The solution proposes that a 1520 mm railway line from the airport to Imanta station using the newly built Rail Baltica infrastructure would be built, and the existing 1520 mm railway line between Imanta and Riga Central Station would be upgraded.
The solution also proposes to upgrade the 1520 mm Riga Central Station-Salaspils section, thus enabling passengers to travel by train to the airport before completing the Rail Baltica main line.
Meanwhile, this proposal states that Rail Baltica might not enter Rīga initially, so basically, to get to the Rīga airport, one would have to disembark at Salaspils and change trains.
This also means that later, if funding is found, another track would be built going to the airport – a 1435 mm gauge one, used by Rail Baltica.
The total cost of the solution is around €524.29 million, of which around €419,492.461 million is available through the reallocation of funding from EU Structural Funds for other infrastructure projects in the Ministry.
The prepared solution is part of the scenario for the first phase of the Rail Baltica project, which will be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers in September this year.
