“The Rail Baltica project will end the integration of our transport system with the West in the area of communications, and the region of Marijampolė will be the main gateway to closer cooperation with Poland,” – said Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis at the event.
Marijampolė is the first city to grasp the benefit of Rail Baltica. As early as in 2015, after the first stage of the project was completed, the city's infrastructure near the railway was reformed, allowing its residents to cross the railway in a safer and more convenient way. Since 2016, the residents can travel to Poland using a direct train. According to the Minister, 10 trains per day are expected to travel in the direction of Warsaw at the end of 2026.
At the event, it was noted that other cities of the region have also experienced changes: the European railway gauge has been built from the border between Poland and Lithuania towards Šeštokai, Marijampolė, Kazlų Rūda and Kaunas. Other train stations and crossings in the region have been modernised as well. The possibility to travel quickly from the southern part of Lithuania to Northern and Western Europe will facilitate the planning of new projects and investments promoting tourism.
“At the moment, spatial planning is conducted for further development and modernisation of the infrastructure at the section between Kaunas and the Lithuania–Poland border so that in the future passenger trains could reach the speed of 250 km/h. We are all creators of the history of Rail Baltica, including the institutions and companies responsible for the implementation of the project as well as the municipalities that the European railway crosses, the representatives, the citizens and businesses. This stage of spatial planning is highly important because it’s the perfect time for discussions and the search for an optimal solution for the modernisation of the European railway,” said director of Rail Baltica Coordination Department at LTG Infra Arenijus Jackus.
On the initiative of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and LTG Infra, a series of remote events “Rail Baltica in Lithuania: its value for the regions” is organised in all the regions of Lithuania where the Rail Baltica railway is to be constructed. In May, a meeting with the representatives of the municipalities of the region of Vilnius is planned.
