VILNIUS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The section of the Rail Baltica European-gauge railway to Vilnius will be built after 2030 once the construction of the main line is completed. Until then, a variable gauge mechanism could be temporarily used between Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania's Transport and Communications Ministry said on Thursday.
In this case, the train in Kaunas would switch from the standard European gauge tracks to Lithuania's broad gauge tracks temporarily and reach the capital, it said.
Transport and Communications Minister Eugenijus Sabutis said that the Rail Baltica section to Vilnius, with standard European gauge tracks will be built as soon as possible once the necessary funding is secured.
"The first stage ensures Lithuania's connection to Western Europe via Kaunas, while the second stage provides for the extension of the European-gauge track to Vilnius," he said in a statement. "Vilnius is an integral part of Rail Baltica but it will be implemented after 2030 once the main line is completed."
Construction of the 46.3 km section of the Rail Baltica main line embankment and civil engineering works between Kaunas and Panevezys is currently underway. Construction activities are expected to extend to 114 km by the end of this year.
In early this June, Sabutis told local media he would not seek European funding for the Rail Baltica railway section to Vilnius as the European Union (EU) was not willing to allocate funds for this part of the project.
The minister said at the time that the state budget does not have the necessary funds for the construction of the European track between Kaunas and Vilnius.
In their joint report published in June 2024, Baltic auditors said that a further 10-19 billion euros (11.6-22.04 billion U.S. dollars) could be needed to implement the planned works in the three Baltic countries, including 8.7 billion euros in Lithuania alone.
Rail Baltica is the largest railway infrastructure project in the history of the Baltic countries, connecting Tallinn, Parnu, Riga, Panevezys, Kaunas, Vilnius and Warsaw. The total length of the line in the Baltic countries will be 870 km: 392 km in Lithuania, 265 km in Latvia, and 213 km in Estonia.
The entire Rail Baltica project linking the Baltic countries with Western Europe, is scheduled to be completed by 2030, while the link between Lithuania and Poland is expected to be completed by 2028. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollar) ■
