The job of designing and building the Rail Baltica Central Station project in Riga, Latvia has gone to a joint venture of Belgian contractor Besix and Sia Rere BÅ«ve, a subsidiary of Latvian construction group Jsc Rere.
The €430m development is 85% financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility, and 15% by Latvia.
Work on the project includes:
- Construction of a 12,600 sq m Central Station in Riga, a long-span steel structure with a 2,100 sq m glazed roof;
- A 1,056m railway bridge next to an existing bridge over the Daugava River;
- Installation of a new 2.5km rail and catenary system;
- Relocating existing utilities.
Work is due to be completed in 2026.
Besix said the project will be difficult, as it involves limited working areas and working in multiple phases so that the station, adjacent roads and public transport lines can remain in operation while two different rail gauge systems are combined.
Rik Vandenberghe, Besix chief executive, said: "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 team was awarded the contract by Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas, the executive agency of the Latvian Ministry of Transport.
The Rail Baltica Project (https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/design-team-chosen-870km-rail-baltica-project/) is a €5bn, 870km rail system between the three Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Image courtesy of Besix
