On Tuesday, the government supported the initiative of the Ministry of Transport to purchase rolling stock of at least two new battery electric trains until December 31, 2029.
It is intended that the first battery trains for which procurements have already been announced will run on other routes, like Rīga-Bolderāja and Rīga-Sigulda, starting in 2026.
Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (New Unity) said at a government meeting that she is looking at the project with concerns, given the incidents with electric trains, because there are even bigger problems with batteries in the winter.
The total financing planned and available for the purchase of trains is EUR 21,287,963, of which the European Regional Development Fund financed EUR 18,094,768, and the Latvian budget EUR 3,193,195. National co-financing shall not be less than 15% of the total eligible financing planned for the project, according to the Ministry of Transport (SM).
The purchased trains will run on the Riga-Dobele line, where diesel trains are currently operated. Since electric trains are already running at the Riga-Jelgava stage, battery trains will be able to charge under the contact wire, allowing them to continue on the non-electrified section Jelgava-Dobele in battery mode, explains SM.
in 2023, 40,259 passengers were scheduled to be carried on diesel trains at this stage, but with the introduction of the new trains, the expected number of passengers could grow to just under 303 thousand people, including more than 115 thousand who could opt for the new trains instead of buses, while more than 147 thousand could transfer from cars, according to the ministry's intention.
In autumn 2023, the Road Transport Administration (ATD) launched the second round of a call for tenders for the purchase of nine trains. Three candidates entered the competition in the first round: “Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles S.A.”, an association of persons consisting of “Skoda Transportation” and “Skoda Vagonka” and “Stadler Polska”. All have been found compliant and invited to submit their bids for the second round as well, for the purchase of battery trains by March 1 2024.
The first battery trains are expected to run on the Bolderāja-Rīga-Sigulda routes, as well as Rīga-Madona and Rīga-Dobele, but other routes are possible.
By purchasing battery trains and upgrading railway infrastructure, it is planned to gradually replace old diesel trains.
