Lithuanian section of Rail Baltica to undergo feasibility study

THE Lithuanian Ministry of Transportation and Communications and RB Rail have has awarded a contract to Spanish group Ardanuy Ingenieria to conduct a feasibility study for the upgrading of the Polish/Lithuanian border - Kaunas - RRT Palemonas line, which will form part of the planned Rail Baltica high-speed project.

The study, which will be completed in December 2017, will analyse the feasibility of upgrading the existing standard-gauge line to achieve full compliance with the Rail Baltica project and other key technical parameters. The study is expected to provide a cost-benefit analysis for the potential solutions on this section, as well as the alternative solutions and alignment options for reaching speed, capacity, and technical parameters to meet Rail Baltica’s project specifications as part of the North Sea - Baltic TEN-T network corridor.

Lithuania completed the section between the Polish/Lithuania border and Kaunus in 2015, and is continuing to construct the Jiesia - Rokai, Rokai - Palemonas, and Palemonas - Kaunus sections in the Kaunus area. However, the section has a maximum design speed of 120km/h, but Rail Baltica specifications require a speed of 240km/h for passenger trains. The Rail Baltica project also calls for double-track rather than the Lithuanian section’s single track, and needs to be equipped with ERTMS.