By 2026, Rīga and the Pierīga region were to buy more environmentally friendly battery trains with zero-emission technology, as well as upgrade and build sections of track.
The SM explained to LSM.lv that the Cohesion Fund had earmarked EUR 92.5 million for the purchase of battery trains, while the Recovery Fund had planned EUR 74.7 million for railway infrastructure.
"We are proposing to redirect this funding so that we do not have half-finished Rail Baltica stations, but make these stations available to users - both Riga Central Station and Riga Airport and connect them to the existing gauge railway in an initial temporary mode (...)," Transport Minister Kaspars Briškens (Progressives) told Latvian Radio.
The final decision on the trains will be taken after the government approves the reallocation of EU funds under the responsibility of the MoJ and receives official approval from the European Commission (EC).
In the event of a positive government decision and EC approval, the battery trains project will be discontinued and the available funds will be redirected to the further development of the existing rail network and the Rail Baltica project.
"Battery trains require huge investments in infrastructure to operate. Including charging stations, all the adapted infrastructure - and there we do not have enough funding, nor can we do it within the timeframe of the availability of the projects under these funds. It makes much more sense to reallocate this funding to other meaningful projects so that the rail sector does not lose out," said the Transport Minister.
In the same information report, the Ministry also proposes to create a 1520 mm (millimeter) gauge connection from Riga Central Passenger Station to Riga Airport in the existing track width in Latvia before the completion of the first phase of the Rail Baltica project.
This would mean extending the existing standard gauge track by a few kilometers. "And this is a temporary solution so that we are not left with half-finished stations until some unknown time in the future," added Briškens.
This does not mean abandoning the planned Riga Ring, which would bring the Rail Baltica line into the capital, the minister stressed. But initially, it would mean exactly that – Rail Baltica would stop at Salaspils, and to get to the airport, passengers would have to change trains.
Former Transport Minister Anrijs Matīss, during whose time the connection to the airport was developed, pointed out that during these 10 years or so, the construction volumes have swelled beyond recognition.
"That number has increased 13 times. The cost of the central station has gone up 8 times. And you can tell all the fairy tales you want, it can't have anything to do with the increase in construction costs, because it hasn't increased 13 times, it's just that the building volumes are so huge. You can't predict extras like that and then think when Europe will pay for it," said Matīss.
In Matīss' opinion, the SM's idea to extend the existing railway line to the airport is not profitable, Riga and the airport should be connected by the Rail Baltica line.
Former traffic minister Tālis Linkaits is also in favor of including Riga in the Rail Baltica route. He considers the offer of the Ministry of Transport as harmful.
"This is clearly a proposal prepared by specialists from Latvian Railways, which, if it goes ahead, will cement the existing 1520 [mm] rail network and will obviously prevent the arrival of a high-speed train in Riga in any foreseeable future. This proposal is harmful and must be rejected at root," said Linkaits.
