The airport station's building might be stalled to allow the completion of Rīga Central Station.
The Prime Minister stressed that the government has not yet decided anything about the international stations, and the Ministry of Transport has yet to submit a separate informative report to the government this summer. The government will also decide on connectivity with Riga, but all ministers agreed Rīga should be included in the first phase of the project.
"Maybe the existing railway could be integrated into Rail Baltica? That is also possible," the Prime Minister said.
But there is not enough money. European Union funding is not enough to build everything - neither the main line in a straight line nor the Riga bypass. "We have to decide again in any case what alternative funding mechanisms there could be," the Prime Minister said.
In parallel with decisions on project management, the construction of the stations is also to be discussed. "Can we freeze a phase if it is clear that the airport station is in a future phase? Well, then our central railway station has to be completed anyway. [..]
"Maybe we can freeze the airport for a while so that we can at least get Riga station in a state where people can use it," the prime minister said.
Asked whether the construction of Riga central station could be "reversed" and left unfinished, the Prime Minister said: "No, that is the challenge: how can we get it as far as it can be used for as little money as possible? At least that is my vision."
"Am I happy to have such a project on the table? Actually, no. Because there are so many problems that I alone will definitely not manage. I think that the next Prime Ministers will have to work on this project," the Prime Minister said.
Siliņa said that her task is to put the whole situation in a little bit of order, to understand what everyone is doing. "It cannot be that we [the government] do not manage such a mega project," Siliņa added, pointing also to the involvement of Parliament. Siliņa had previously stated that the project had been too secretive.
