Latvia awards Baltica Rail Project contracts to Sia Rere Būve & Besix

Latvia's Ministry of Transport has awarded Sia Rere Būve and Besix the design and construct contract for the Rail Baltica Central Station project in the capital, Riga.

The contract is worth approximately €430-million and also includes the construction of a 1.1 km (0.7 mile) railway bridge on the Daugava river, railway embankments and track works.

With an area of 12,600 m², the Station building will comprise a long-span steel structure with a 2,100 m² glazed roof. Works also include passenger platforms, the renovation of the existing station building, pedestrian tunnels, a traffic junction and associated demolition works.

Rik Vandenberghe, CEO of Besix, said, “Besix is very proud to participate in the construction of the Rail Baltica project. This is a major infrastructure project, for Latvia and the Baltic states of course, but also for Europe as a whole and the economic integration of the continent."

“The Central Station project, located in the heart of Riga, presents a high level of complexity that Besix, along with its partner Sia Rere Būve, is honoured to achieve. In this regard, the Republic of Latvia can count on Besix’s Engineering department and operational staff, in particular on their extensive expertise in the construction of state-of-the-art transport infrastructure, to make this project a great success.”

85% of the project is financed by the EU, with the other 15% coming from the Latvian government.

As well as constructing the new facilities, the joint venture will also install, plan and coordinate all temporary infrastructure to ensure rail traffic flow during the works.

The Rail Baltica Central Station project is part of the €5-billion Rail Baltica Project. The largest infrastructure project in the Baltic region for a hundred years, its goal is to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network.

Financed by the European Union, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, it covers a distance of 870 km (540 miles) and will connect the railway infrastructure of the Baltic states with Northern and Western Europe.

Historically, the Baltic states have been part of the West-East rail corridor using the 1520mm track gauge instead of the European rail network’s 1435mm gauge.

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