11.11.2024
The construction of Rail Baltica gained momentum today when Rail Baltic Estonia and INF Infra, part of the Infortar group of companies, signed an agreement that will lead to the construction of the 8,65-kilometer section of the Estonian main line between Kangru and Saku. This agreement will lead to the construction of the entire Rail Baltica passenger main line in Harju County.
The agreement covers the Harju County section between Kangru and Saku, which will take the high-speed railway through the Männiku bog and will include facilities for pedestrians, such as the Kivitee pedestrian viaduct and the Saunasilla pedestrian tunnel. The environment will be kept as intact as possible when passing through the Männiku bog, allowing nature and the railway to coexist.
"The start of construction of the Kangru-Saku section is an important milestone for the Rail Baltica project. We now have 73 kilometers covered by contracts or already under construction in Estonia, or more than a third of the 213-kilometer main route of Rail Baltica Estonia," said Anvar Salomets, Chairman of the Board of Rail Baltic Estonia.
The contract volume is 67,2 million euros and work on this section will continue until February 2028. According to the schedule of the interim stages, at least three kilometers of the main route embankment, together with the Kivitee viaduct and the pedestrian path, will be completed by the end of 2025. At least six kilometers of the embankment will have been completed by the end of 2026, and the entire section should be completed by February 2028.
The construction contract is financed from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and the Estonian state budget.
"The construction of the railway line through the Männiku bog is a major challenge. Since we want to have as little impact on the natural environment as possible with the construction, we plan to use very innovative special embankment solutions that have not been used in infrastructure construction in Estonia so far. The proposed solutions are significantly more environmentally friendly than traditional embankment construction technologies," noted Robert Sinikas, member of the board of INF Infra.
Rail Baltic Estonia aims to build a modern and high-speed rail connection connecting Estonia with Latvia, Lithuania and the rest of Europe by 2030. The Rail Baltica project promotes regional cooperation, improves passenger and freight transport options, and supports an environmentally friendly and sustainable transport system throughout the Baltics.
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