05.12.2013
04.12.2013 The Rail Baltic Steering Committee, which met at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, decided that the possibility of adding local train traffic to the Rail Baltic route would be included as one of the comparison criteria when selecting a route corridor.
According to Rail Baltic project manager Indrek Sirp, the priority is still international high-speed train connections, but attention is also being paid to creating opportunities for local train traffic. “The possibility of local traffic is not the main criterion for selecting a route, but it is an additional argument when comparing alternative routes,” said Sirp.
The county plans, which are separate from the Rail Baltic thematic plans, therefore provide for possible stop locations on the preferred route to serve local rail traffic, taking into account available capacity.
The Steering Committee also decided to expand the reference database for alternative routes 10A, 10B and 10E passing through the Nabala proposed landscape protection area by adding two new routes to the current 12A. To this end, the consultant will compile a baseline database for two additional routes, one passing through the Nabala proposed landscape protection area from the west and the other from the east. The additional route corridors have been added to the route alternative summary map, which is available in the “Materials” section of this portal.
The county governments, together with the consultant, will organize public presentations of additional route alternatives in the areas that the alternative routes pass through within two months. The current routes will remain in the comparison along with the two additional routes until the most preferred route is selected. The preferred route is expected to be selected in 2014.
By the end of the first quarter.
The strategic environmental impact assessment of route alternatives passing through Nabala will be based, among other things, on the data from the expert assessment of the planned creation of a landscape protection area in Nabala.
In addition, the steering committee took note of the Ministry of Transport's position on the further development of existing railway lines. According to the draft Transport Development Plan 2014-2020, the state will continue to invest in railway infrastructure to ensure a speed of 120 km/h and in some cases up to 140 km/h.
The Rail Baltic Steering Committee includes representatives of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of the Interior, and the county governors of Harju, Rapla, and Pärnu.
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