EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Railways, Real Estate, Transport

Photo: railbaltica.info

Neils Balgalis, a spatial planning expert of RB Latvija, said at a news conference on Tuesday that the initially hostile attitude to the project had changed as a result of constructive cooperation with work groups established by local residents and municipalities to be affected by the Rail Baltica project and with the public authorities.

Around 600 proposals were received and reviewed during the public discussion of the project. Different routes for the new railway line were considered, and the number of properties to be affected has been reduced to 1,000 from the initial 2,000. Only in two municipalities any houses will have to be pulled down to make way for the railway tracks.

During the implementation of the project European gauge "Rail Baltica II" in Latvia 30 buildings will have to be demolished, said Neils Balgalis on Tuesday in the "Morning panorama".

"The original version of the route affected more than two thousand real estates, but now the number has decreased, counting less than a thousand," said the expert.

The public discussion of the environmental impact assessment report on the would-be European-standard gauge railway line Rail Baltica was held in 15 Latvian municipalities through which the rail tracks are to be build from November 11 to December 11.

The Rail Baltica project deals with construction of a new 1,435 millimeter standard-gauge railroad in the Baltic countries. The European Commission has allotted Latvia EUR 238 million for the first round of the project.