"We in the commission have listened for 14 sessions to what changes have been made to the project - there are 116 changes in planning, design, or requirements that have come from RB Rail. Now we are seeing the consequences of these demands. Consequences that have arisen both in the design phase and in the construction phase," commented Andris Kulbergs (United List), head of the Saeima's Rail Baltica inquiry commission.
The head of the commission noted that he believes that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance should also make a similar visit to better understand the situation of the project.
The two large stations and their adjacent sites are so far the only Rail Baltica construction sites in Latvia where construction is active. The main problems at these sites are related to the lack of funding, as the European Commission has said that its priority is the main line.
"At Central Station in particular, the most pressing problem is to complete the southern section in principle, so that we can divert the existing rail traffic to this side. Accordingly, we have to commission the first phase of the station. We have to put a roof on it, we have to equip all the premises so that passengers can make full use of this train service. Getting on the train, all the escalators, everything else. For the minimum that we are looking at now, it needs €114 million," said Ēriks Diļevs, Chairman of the Board of Rail Baltica's project implementer in Latvia EDzL.
The airport has the same financial problem. There, the first phase of construction work has been completed in the station area. For the time being, the works are not going ahead because there is simply no money.
The available funding allows the work to continue away from the airport station, at least for a while, but there is a shortfall of more than €200 million to finish the job. And this does not take into account the inflationary increases. Since there is no money for further work specifically in the station area, the project has also started to be considered for winter conservation.
European Union money earmarked for other projects will be reallocated to find additional funds to build the stations. But even then, there is unlikely to be enough for everything that is needed.
