Construction, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Lithuania, Railways, Transport

The railway section will be designed by Spain's IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture, S.A.U. for 9.64 mln euros (including VAT).

RB Rail also signed a separate contract the Tallinn–Rapla section in Estonia with the same Spanish company.

The section in Lithuania is planned to be 91 km long and based on the preliminary design includes the following structures – 3 railway bridges, 14 road viaducts, 20 railway viaducts, 4 animal crossings (eco-ducts) and conceptual design of Panevežys international passenger railway station.

"The signing of the two contracts for the sections Ramygala-Lithuanian/Latvian border and Tallinn – Rapla is a significant step in the project implementation," says Ignas Degutis, CFO at RB Rail. "High-quality design is an essential requirement in order to succeed in the construction phase of Rail Baltica. Therefore, we are eager to utilize international experience in designing high-speed railway and know-how of the Spanish company."

This is the second tender won by IDOM in Lithuania. The company will also design the 78-km section from Kaunas to Ramygala for 8.44 million euros. The contract was signed in April.

In total, 7 out of 11 procurement procedures of the detailed technical design services for the main line of Rail Baltica have been launched in the Baltic States, covering 57% of the entire length of the line. In 4 of them the design activities have already been started and the remaining sections are planned to be contracted until 2020.

Rail Baltica is expected to link Tallinn, Parnu, Riga, Panevezys, Kaunas, Vilnius and Warsaw by 2026.