RIGA, July 3 (LETA) - Ways have to be found to ensure that Rail Baltica railroad's mainline be built making maximum use of the existing 1,520-millimeter rail corridor and embankments, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (United List) said in an interview with LETA.

Kulbergs has spoken with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels and proposed a specific approach to how implementation of the Rail Baltica project should proceed. Kulbergs also inquired about a visit to Latvia by European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas, and an agreement was reached that such a visit will be organized in the near future.

"I am ready to take on leadership and coordinate Rail Baltica matters among the three Baltic countries. Clearly, this is no easy task, especially in the period leading up to the elections. But I believe I have the most in-depth knowledge of the project, both from the inside and the outside, as well as from a technical standpoint," said Kulbergs.

All three Baltic countries are "in the same boat" regarding Rail Baltica, and none of the countries has the financial resources available to complete this project, said Kulbergs. "No matter what any of us might try to say about the timeline, these funds do not exist, there is no source to cover the costs," said the prime minister.

Kulbergs believes that rushing the project will make it much more expensive.

"We need to sit down at the table and say: this is how we in Latvia envision the mainline. And what I want to propose is a change to the mainline," said Kulbergs.

He suggests thinking well "outside the box". "If we cannot afford this project at the moment, we need to come up with unconventional solutions to reduce costs - not by cents, but by millions. This can be done by assessing which elements of the railroad are the most expensive and seeing if there are alternatives," the prime minister explained.

Therefore, Kulbergs believes that there is no point in continuing to spend taxpayer money the way it has been done so far. In his opinion, the solutions adopted so far are poorly thought out in many respects, as the project includes excessively expensive elements that lack sufficient economic justification.

According to Kulbergs, it is necessary to assess how the mainline can be built by making maximum use of the existing 1,520-millimeter rail corridor and embankments. This would mean less land to be expropriated, fewer new access roads, and a smaller impact on the environment and people's daily lives. "Moreover, people have already adapted to the existing rail infrastructure and crossings. We should not brutally divide Latvia's territory once again with a completely new corridor," Kulbergs explained.

"Someone made the decision to design railroad for a maximum speed of 249 kilometers per hour. The question is, why exactly this speed? It significantly increases the cost of every kilometer built," said Kulbergs.

Therefore it needs to be analyzed whether the benefits are proportional to the costs, Kulbergs emphasized. If reducing the maximum speed on the railroad would only add about ten minutes to the travel time, but allows for saving millions of euros per kilometer of track, then such a compromise should be seriously considered, the prime minister believes.

This is how Kulbergs suggests looking at these matters. Perhaps there is a way to reduce the number of bridges, since Latvia has the most bridges of all three Baltic countries. "Every bridge is a massive element, a cost-increasing element, and its value must be assessed. We need to find a rational solution for connecting both Riga and our strategic facilities, such as the airport and the port, as well as the military components within the country," Kulbergs explained.

The prime minister wants to see whether his idea is viable, what the risks are that might make it unviable. If Kulbergs receives confirmation from experts that his proposed ideas are viable, then the prime minister wants them to be approved in Brussels as Latvia's final version.

Kulbergs has asked the Cabinet of Ministers whether the Rail Baltica mainline had been approved in Latvia. "The Transport Ministry previously told me that everything was approved at the December 10, 2024 meeting, approved in principle. And then I asked the State Chancellery's Legal Affairs Department if this meant that the mainline had been legally approved in the Republic of Latvia. They replied clearly and unequivocally that it was not approved," Kulbergs revealed.

2030 can be ruled out as the project's completion date. 2035 is the earliest when the project could be completed in Latvia, said Kulbergs.

As reported, according to project implementer RB Rail, the cost of the first phase of the Rail Baltica project in the Baltics could reach EUR 14.3 billion, including EUR 5.5 billion in Latvia, but there is potential to save up to EUR 500 million by optimizing technical solutions and cutting other costs.

The total cost of the project could reach EUR 23.8 billion in the Baltics, according to the cost-benefit analysis. A previous cost-benefit analysis in 2017 estimated the total cost of the project at EUR 5.8 billion.

The Rail Baltica project will build a European standard gauge railway line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border to connect the Baltic States with other European countries by rail. A new 870-kilometre European-standard (1,435 mm) railway line with a maximum train speed of 240 kilometers per hour will be built in the Baltic States.

Rail Baltica is a double-track, European standard 1,435 mm gauge electrified railway for passenger and freight transport to be built from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border. The overall length of the railway will be 870 kilometers.