€400m worth of tenders for Rail Baltica railway in Estonia published

Digital render of a Rail Baltica train (Image: Rail Baltica)

Rail Baltica has announced tenders for the construction of nearly 53km of new high-speed railway in Estonia.

The latest tenders, published on 29 December 2023, involve the construction of the underlying infrastructure and intersections for 52.6km of the line.

They cover five mainline sections in Harju and Rapla counties: Soodevahe – Kangru; Kangru – Saku; Saku – Harju/Rapla county border; Hagudi – Alu; Alu – Kärpla. Over 20 railway intersections have already been completed or are under construction on these sections.

The estimated total cost of the published tenders is approximately €400 million. The length of the construction contract varies between 40-48 months depending on the section.

Construction work for the initial sections of the Rail Baltica mainline will start in early 2024.

Rail Baltica involves integrating the Baltic states into the European rail network along an 830km line running from Helsinki in Finland and Tallinn in Estonia in the north, to Warsaw in Poland further south.

Late last year, it was revealed that a consortium of three contractors called ERB Rail – Eiffage, Budimex and Rizzani de Eccher – have won a €3.7bn contract for the civil engineering and track-laying works on a 230km section of the project.

Construction activities are expected to take place on 74km of the Rail Baltica Estonian route within a year, constituting over a third of the entire length of the Estonian mainline.

Anvar Salomets, the chief executive officer of Rail Baltic Estonia said, “The construction of the Rail Baltica mainline is undoubtedly a priority for us in 2024 and the following years. One year from now, we aim to see active railway infrastructure construction on more than a third of the Estonian part of the future high-speed railway. This will allow us to stay on schedule to commence rail traffic in 2030.”

According to Salomets, the recently announced tenders for the mainline construction are likely to be the last handled as short segments. “We are changing the tender strategy for the remaining railway infrastructure and superstructure, and currently, we are also looking for a consultant to proceed with the so-called alliance model,” explained Salomets.