In a statement, RB Rail – the joint venture responsible for Rail Baltica – said it "continues to work on the implementation of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to accelerate the project's development and lessen the burden on state budgets."
"This approach is particularly timely, as it follows the successful funding allocation to the Porto-Lisbon High-Speed Rail (HSR) project, which received €813 million from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) – the highest amount awarded to any project in this funding round. This slightly exceeds the amount awarded to the second-place Rail Baltica," said RB Rail.
"The Porto-Lisbon HSR project serves as a significant precedent for Rail Baltica, demonstrating the viability of combining CEF funding with a PPP structure to address financing gaps in large-scale rail initiatives. In addition to the Porto-Lisbon project, several other notable European high-speed rail projects have successfully employed the PPP model, including the Lyon-Turin High-Speed Rail project, which aims to create a new rail link between France and Italy," said RB Rail.
However, it is now talking up the attractions of PPP funding a long time after the project was initially budgeted without PPP input at all – and just 2 years ahead of what was supposed to be the completion date of 2026 (which has now been pushed back to 2030 at the earliest).
“Our team is currently assessing which sections of the Rail Baltica project would be most suitable for a PPP approach, ensuring that we maximize the benefits of private sector involvement while delivering on our strategic objectives. Preliminary discussions with potential private investors and financiers have yielded encouraging results, with strong interest in participation. This, coupled with public support from governments, indicates the potential viability of a PPP strategy for Rail Baltica,” said Pēteris Celms, Investment Development Manager in RB Rail AS.
The latest estimates presented in June show that the Rail Baltica project costs have soared to EUR 15.3 billion for the first stage, twice as much as was talked about last year and miles from initial estimates that the whole project would cost 5.8 billion euros. It is now thought the full project cost after 2030 "could reach 23.8 billion" – four times the original price tag. Whether private capital is willing to plug the yawning funding gap remains to be seen.
