"The digital information center website is divided in different sections, which provides an opportunity for visitors to get acquainted with the project in short summary and understand the benefits that the new railway line will provide during the construction period and after the start of operation. It fulfills the goal to ensure transparency, inform society and maintain circulation of relevant facts and figures," said RB Rail, the company jointly-owned by the three Baltic states that is in charge of the project.
An interactive map illustrates the route and where the stations will be. For each section description contact information has been provided to send in questions regarding the project, railway sections and infrastructure.
Along with the new information center, RB Rail AS has launched a public information campaign in all Baltic States that presents the main facts and benefits of the high-speed railway in the region and Europe.
Yet some of the comparisons used to explain the project to the public seem slightly bizarre or irrelevant.
"The travel time from Tallinn to Vilnius will be the lenght [sic] of entire Gone with the Wind movie, 3h 38m" points out the Digital information center.
At 5.8 billion euros Rail Baltica costs "less than the cost of the London 2012 Olympic Games" it adds. The London games cost around 8.7 billion pounds, or about double Rail Baltica's cost. But there are many other things that cost more than Rail Baltica and many that cost less. A pint of milk costs considerably less, but whether it is worth making such a comparison is debatable.
Other factoids include information that the 870 km lenght [again sic] of Rail Baltica is "as much as the ancient pilgrimage route The French Way to Santiago" and that the maximum speed of trains at 234 km/h is "comparable to the take-off speed of a propeller plane."
But our favorite freaky factoid is: "The chance of fatality for one passenger over 1 billion kilometres is under 1%. In that case you would have to live on the train." Time to buy a season ticket and enjoy near-immortality!
RB Rail is a central coordinator responsible for the design, construction and marketing of the 6 billion euro construction of a high speed rail line connecting the Baltic states. The headquarters of RB Rail is situated in Riga and the company currently employs 67 people.
Separately, RB Rail confirmed June 7 that on 31 May, the shareholders of RB Rail approved a new Supervisory Board with the following members: Karolis Sankovski, CEO of Rail Baltica Statyba, Riia Sillave, CEO of Rail Baltic Estonia OU, Anri Leimanis, Vice-Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of Latvijas Mobilais Telefons, Anti Moppel, Advisor to the Deputy Secretary General for Transport at Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia, Ligita Austrupe, Deputy State Secretary of Ministry of Transport of Latvia and Romas Švedas, Chairman of the Implementation Committee of UN Espoo Convention.
The Latvian shareholder had decided to recall both of its representatives Edvīns Bērziņš and Vineta Rudzīte and instead to appoint an independent board member Anri Leimanis and Ligita Austrupe.
The Supervisory Board is comprised of six members – two members nominated by each shareholder. The Supervisory Board members are elected for the period of three years.
