The Latvian State Roads network development strategy calls for the creation of high-speed roads, which would be the backbone of the network between the largest Latvian cities, announced the Ministry of Transport on December 6.
On December 12, the Saeima, at first reading, approved amendments to the Law on Ports, which provide for the taking over of the Freeport of Riga and Ventspils under public administration.
The 6-billion-euro Rail Baltica infrastructure project is showing off what might be the shape of things to come in the form of designs for the stations, bridges, crossings and other pieces of civil engineering likely to be located along its 870-kilometer route.
On December 3, 2019 Latvian airline airBaltic played host to Minister of Transport Tālis Linkaits and media to show off its Airbus A220 flight simulator at the airBaltic Training facilities next to Riga International Airport. It is the first new full flight simulator ever purchased by a Latvian company and the newest such simulator in the world, the company said.
From now on, vehicles equipped with non-compliant winter tires will be banned from roads by having their roadworthiness certificate and license plates removed, the Road Transport Safety Directorate (CSDD) said December 3.
The future of Rail Baltica is in the balance due to poor corporate governance and conflicts of interest, according to a statement signed by 62 employees of RB Rail, the company overseeing the major infrastructure project, the LETA news agency reported November 27.
The company managing the 6-billion-euro Rail Baltica infrastructure project announced November 26 it had appointed Latvian Agnis Driksna, the Director of Development and Communications Department at “European Railway Lines” in the capacity of the interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of RB Rail AS.
Passeners with Latvian national airline airBaltic are expressing increasing dissatisfaction with recently-introduced changes to the company's baggage rules, reported Latvian Radio November 25.
The Riga Freeport board decided to sign a 40 million euro contract for the construction of the Kundiņsala overpass with companies possibly associated with persons charged in the “construction cartel” scandal and amid leadership reorganization at the Riga City Council, according to the November 17 LTV broadcast De Facto.
The Rail Baltica joint venture, RB Rail AS, has published a study evaluating the ways in which integration of airport passenger traffic might be combined with the Rail Baltica railway infrastructure.
Work on the Rail Baltica Riga Airport station and overpass could begin in 2021. Provisional costs are estimated at around 250 to 280 million euros, 85% of which will be financed by the European Union, with 15% state co-financing, according to the Latvian Radio.
Last week several Latvian internet portals painted a near catastrophic picture around discussions about a vehicle tax.
On Tuesday, October 29, the government supported a reduction in the required state language proficiency level for passenger train conductors, as proposed by the Ministry of Transport.
The major Rail Baltica infrastructure project was given an additional headache October 28 with the announcement that Timo Riihimäki, RB Rail AS Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board will step down from both positions.
The officials responsible have known for some time that there are problems within the “Rīgas satiksme” (Rīga transport) subsidiary “Rīgas karte”, which is responsible for maintaining the “e-talons” electronic card payment system operated by public transport in Riga, reports LTV's De Facto investigative show.
The infrastructure at Riga Airport is developing, but at a slightly slower rate than the airlines operating there, said Artūrs Saveļjevs, a board member of the airport, in an interview with Latvian Radio October 22.
The Rail Baltica infrastructure project announced October 21 it had signed a contract with international software solutions company Bentley Systems "to deploy, implement and maintain Rail Baltica Common Data Environment for building [an] information management system (BIM)."
From 2021, Latvia may have to pay a large fine to the European Union for excessively high levels of CO2 pollution, reported Latvian Radio October 21.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) said October 18 it was turning to the Prosecutor General's office to demand action because of "publicly disclosed information that Riga City Council (RD) officials do not plan to recover losses from former members of SIA Rīgas Satiksme (Riga Transport) board."
Latvian airline airBaltic said October 15 it had no plans to ground its fleet and was paying precise attention to advice from the company responsible for manufaturing the engines on its fleet of Airbus A220 aircraft.
Shareholders of the Rail Baltica joint venture, RB Rail AS, approved a new Supervisory Board of the company October 15.
The Rail Baltica Joint Venture RB Rail AS has announced a tender for the provision of Notified Body (NoBo) services on the 6 billion euro infrastructure project.
In the first eight months of 2019, Riga International Airport received 5.225 million passengers, which is an increase of 10.6% against the respective period a year ago, according to information released by the airport.
A climate study commissioned by the Rail Baltica infrastructure project predicts that within the next 30 years, summer temperatures could soar to more than 40 Celsius in the region.
No fatalities were registered in Latvia on the European Day Without a Road Death on September 26, however, several people suffered injuries in traffic accidents, the State Police told LETA.
Members of the public trying to travel between the Latvian capital and the eastern city of Rēzekne are facing frustration and inconvenience with the current buses full and not stopping to pick up more passengers, reports LSM's Latvian language service.
The number of passengers carried by Latvian airline airBaltic to and from Estonia during the first eight months of 2019 grew 48% year on year to 430,000 passengers, the airline said.
New regulations for taxis at Rīga Airport become effective September 15. It is expected that for the first days the No. 322 minibus will run extra routes to provide passengers with a way to get to the city, reported the Transport Ministry.
The 6-billion-euro Rail Baltica transport project has released an update of progress made so far on what is intended to be one of the most important regional infrastructure projects for decades. You can watch the 12-slide presentation via the link below.
Latvian airline airBaltic has published its upcoming winter season schedule which will begin on October 27th, 2019.