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The EU Invests EUR 272 Million in Railroads: A Cohesion of Latvian and Lithuanian Railway Projects!

The EU Invests EUR 272 Million in Railroads: A Cohesion of Latvian and Lithuanian Railway Projects!
photo: Thebusofdoom/The EU Invests EUR 272 Million in Railroads: A Cohesion of Latvian and Lithuanian Railway Projects!
05 / 05 / 2022

The EU will finance the purchase of trains in Latvia and the electrification of the Kaišiadorys - Klaipėda railroad in Lithuania. The Cohesion Fund has approved investments of EUR 272 million. How will the money be distributed?

Latvia will receive EUR 114 million of the EU funds. The money will be used to buy 23 EMUs for Riga and Pieriga region, which will replace the state-owned company's outdated rolling stock. The electric trains will have 400 seats with space for 450 standing passengers. Delivery of the EMU fleet, which has a maximum speed of 160 km/h, is planned for the end of 2023, with further commercial operation on tracks from Riga to Aizkraukle, Tukums, Skulte, and Jelgava. Such a solution will help increase the number of trips by environmentally friendly means of transport to 2.7 million.

Lithuania, in turn, will receive EUR 157 million from the EU for the electrification of railway line Kaišiadorys - Klaipėda with a length of 365 km. At present, the line uses only diesel traction, the emissions of which amount to 3% of all greenhouse gases emitted by the country's transport sector. It is part of the highway that connects Klaipėda with the border of Lithuania and Belarus (a total length of 423.9 km). The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023, and its economic and environmental effect is estimated at EUR 700 million.

It is worth noting that currently, only 8% of the Lithuanian railway network is electrified, so this project is a crucial contribution to supporting TENT-T development principles aimed at improving the efficiency of the EU railway system.

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