{"id":106699,"date":"2024-08-12T20:19:35","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T10:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=55251"},"modified":"2024-08-12T20:19:35","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T10:19:35","slug":"latvian-parliament-questions-rail-baltica-plans-it-has-not-been-approved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=106699","title":{"rendered":"Latvian parliament questions Rail Baltica plans: \u201cIt has not been approved\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Latvian parliamentary inquiry has cast doubt on the legality of the country\u2019s Rail Baltica plans. The head of the inquiry committee, Andris Kulbergs, says that the current plans never received the green light from parliament.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>According to Kulbergs, the original plan was mandated by parliament in 2017. It included a \u201csimplified baseline for connecting the Baltic countries and their capitals to the Rail Baltica railway.\u201d Riga was to be connected via a single rail branch, and the plan was supposed to cost 1,2 billion euros. However, current construction entails more than that approved plan.<\/p>\n

“It has not been approved”<\/h2>\n

The committee has now found that another proposal made its way to the government, according to Latvian publication LSM. The so-called \u201cRiga Loop\u201d idea, which is now under construction, grew from it. It includes more connections, including a connection to Riga Airport.<\/p>\n

Kulbergs calls the Riga Loop “beautiful, convenient and comfortable”, but also says that the questions remains if “it is originally approved.” He concludes that the “expensive, luxury idea” has “not been approved, as we can see from the documents at the moment.”<\/p>\n