“In order to connect all the ports of the EU’s eastern Baltic coast by rail and enable the residents and cargo to reach the rest of Europe faster, it is especially important to include a European gauge railway route to Klaipėda in the development plans of the Trans-European Transport Network TEN-T. In today’s geopolitical context, the integration of the Baltic States, as well as Ukraine, into the EU transport system is one of the priority goals,” said Skuodis, Minister of Transport and Communications, at the TTE Council.
A branch of the high-speed European gauge railway to Klaipėda would improve transport and logistics connections in Central and Eastern Europe by creating new freight corridors with Ukraine.
According to the Minister, a fast European gauge railway track to Klaipėda would fundamentally change the Lithuanian transport system: it would create a promising alternative to road transport, and would help to diversify the activities of Klaipėda Seaport faster.
As Russia continues its war against Ukraine, blocking its Black Sea ports, halting Ukraine’s grain exports and threatening global food security, the TTE Council has highlighted the lack of EU transport connections and the need to address this issue. According to Minister Skuodis, Lithuania, together with Latvia and Estonia, is implementing the Rail Baltica transport infrastructure project of strategic importance, the implementation of which and securing the necessary funding is a common goal of the entire EU.
Lithuania seeks to help war-torn Ukraine bring away grain from last year’s harvest, with about 20 million tonnes still left. In May, a test cargo train with 50 containers was delivered from Ukraine to Lithuania. Due to infrastructure restrictions, it is currently possible to bring to Lithuania only 1-1.5 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain per year via Poland.
In 2021, Klaipėda Seaport handled 3.34 million tonnes of grain, the year before that – 4.6 million tonnes. Last year, LTG Cargo transported about 2.4 million tonnes of grain, of which local shipments accounted for about 1.8 million tonnes.
