When it comes to Rail Baltica, Latvia needs to take off its “rose-tinted glasses” – or the “[former transport minister Kaspars] Briškens (P) glasses” – and realistically assess what the country is actually capable of building, Arvils Ašeradens, New Unity’s (JV) candidate for prime minister and former finance minister, said in an interview on LETA’s podcast “Politiķi! Kas tas vispār bija?!”.
“I can say today that the project will not be completed in 2030. There is no doubt about that,” Ašeradens said. In his view, Latvia, together with Estonia and Lithuania, must agree on a minimum, financially viable version of the project.
The politician suggested that the originally planned train speed could also be reconsidered in order to reduce costs. “I think 180 kilometres per hour would also be a very good solution for the Baltic railway,” Ašeradens said. The higher the planned speed, the more expensive the infrastructure is to build.
Ašeradens said that, while serving as finance minister, he realised the scale of the project’s financial problems following a visit from then transport minister Jānis Vitenbergs (NA).
“He came to me and said: you know, something isn’t right with the costs here – we need five billion. That was when I, at least as finance minister, realised that the situation was no longer good at all,” the politician said.
According to Ašeradens, the previous cost estimate for Latvia’s section of the project approved at government level had been approximately €1.7 billion. He said ministers had not presented the government with complete information about the project’s rising costs.
Ašeradens suggested that some transport ministers may have concealed the true scale of the cost increases in order to allow the project to continue.
In this context, he mentioned former transport minister Tālis Linkaits and also expressed suspicions that information had continued to be withheld at a later stage.
The former finance minister stressed that Latvia cannot afford Rail Baltica at its current projected cost. However, he does not support abandoning the project, as a connection to the European railway network is in Latvia’s security and development interests.
Ašeradens said there are currently two possible scenarios – either terminate the project or continue it at a significantly lower cost. In his view, the second option would be the right choice.
Asked when people in Latvia could realistically begin using the new railway line, Ašeradens did not give a specific date.
“I think we will be able to answer that question in a year,” he said.
The post “It won’t happen in 2030 – there’s no doubt about it.” Latvian politician delivers stark Rail Baltica forecast appeared first on Baltic News Network.
