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Thursday, 28.03.2024, 23:13
Rail Baltica – Connectivity That Benefits All
Andris Strazds, Advisor at
the Bank of Latvia, looks at the project through general global trends which
prove that the economic and social development increasingly concentrates in the
city centres of huge urban areas. “The main essence of the project is that Rail
Baltica would allow us not to fight these trends, but to use them for our
benefit by connecting the centres of the big cities in the Baltics. It is vital
to remark that the benefits that Rail Baltica brings to the society are much
bigger than the costs, which was clearly manifested during the event. Another
important message was the map proving that the three Baltic States together are
worth much more than their individual values added up. In my opinion, this
serves as a great reminder that the Baltic States must work together”, said
Andris Strazds.
However, the project should not be viewed
only from the perspective of metropolitan areas, admits Tālis Linkaits,
Head of VASAB Secretariat. “We have opportunities for new areas to develop, and
they exist not only for the metropolitan region but also for secondary cities.
For example, in Latvia it is Bauska and Salacgrīva where new opportunities
might arise due to being connected with the capital or large cities in the Baltic
States as well as Europe,” explained Mr. Linkaits.
Romek Kosenkranius, the Mayor of
Parnu city (the city that would benefit from Rail Baltica
alongside the capitals) claimed that a lot of people had already been
expressing interest in moving to Parnu from Tallinn in case it got better
connected with the Estonian capital. They also hope to attract some Latvians working
in Riga. The connectivity will grow on a larger scale as well. “Rail Baltica
will have a great impact on regional connections between the Baltic States, but
it will also impact Poland, as there is quite a significant tourism flow from
Poland to Vilnius area, and with this new mode of transportation I think it
will definitely have a chance to grow,” said Jakub Kapturzak, Deputy
Director at the Department of Railway Transport of the Ministry of
Infrastructure and Construction of the Republic of Poland. He also emphasized
that the conference was the next step to assure Poland that the project would
actually be implemented.
As Dominique Deau, railway expert and
former Development Director of NExTEO SNCF Reseau and SNCF Mobilites,
highlighted, there are indeed great benefits from high speed rail projects and
the connectivity that they bring. Nevertheless, these benefits are not
automatic thus hard work must be invested in advance involving all
stakeholders. He believes it will be done properly, as great enthusiasm for the
project implementation was demonstrated during the event by all parties – the
ministers as well as the European Commission – which is a crucial element.