The SM urges the government to support the connection of the railway line also to the Free Port of Riga to facilitate the development of the economic corridor.
As pointed out by the SM, the connection to the port was not foreseen earlier when the project was planned.
This new proposal comes at a time when there is no clarity whether there will be funds to even complete the project. However, the government is set on including a connection to Rīga as a priority.
The project so far envisaged the development of a freight bypass via Salaspils, but the SM considers that the solution can be significantly improved by redesigning it. The Ministry acknowledges that full freight transport through Rīga would "significantly increase the overall project costs" – which have already increased several times – but that there is an option to pass cargo through Rīga at 35% of the nominal volume with the existing project.
SM said it would continue to work on a detailed study of technical solutions, including partial freight traffic on the Riga sections Upeslejas-Riga Central Station and Riga Central Station-Riga Airport. The SM plans to do this by the end of September this year.
The government supports in concept the integration of Rail Baltica into the overall railway economy. In cooperation with Latvian Railways, a "simplified technical solution" for the connection of the two Riga international stations has been developed, which reduces construction costs in the first phase until 2030, the SM said.
