RIGA, Feb 5 (LETA) - The number of trains at Riga Central Station will be reduced significantly during the construction of the Rail Baltica railroad in Riga, as Transport Minister Talis Linkaits (New Conservative Party) told LETA.

Latvijas Dzelzcels railroad company has prepared a draft timetable to incorporate the changes, which will probably be effective from March 28, said Linkaits.

"We will try to ensure traffic from the Central Station. If necessary, Zemitani Station or Tornakalns Station, not the Central Station, will be the terminus for some trains. Our main task is to make sure that train traffic through the Central Station is not halted during the construction, because not only passenger trains, but also freight trains go through the station," said Linkaits, adding that freight traffic must not be interrupted.

Another major challenge will be increasing railroad voltage from the current 3 kilovolts to 25 kilovolts of the Rail Baltica railroad. This project will also require additional financing, said Linkaits.

Linkaits also said, commenting on delays with implementation of the Rail Baltica project in the past, that he could not promise that Rail Baltica construction would be completed by 2026. "At the moment our objective is to start construction of the railroad from the Latvian-Lithuanian border to Riga. This would be the first railroad section that could open for traffic," said the minister.

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

The initial cost of the project was estimated at EUR 5.8 billion, with a portion of the costs being financed through EU funds. The project was expected to be completed and open for traffic in 2026.