Discussing strengthening the role of railways in Europe, Latvia puts emphasis on ‘Rail Baltica’

Transport Minister Kaspars Briškens is participating in high-level events during his working visit to Brussels, Belgium on April 2 to discuss strengthening the role of railways in Europe, including the promotion of freight transportation by rail, the Ministry of Transport informs.

“Railway development plays an important role in the progress towards achieving Europe’s green goals. At the same time, common visions and the availability of funding are needed, including regarding the development of freight transport. Latvia’s priority is and will be the “Rail Baltica” high-speed railway line, which will connect Latvia to Europe. Until this instrument for connecting European infrastructure has played an essential role in the implementation of “Rail Baltica”, and this instrument must also be preserved in the next EU Multiannual budget package. The national funding for the completion of the TEN-T networks is not and will not be sufficient, therefore solutions must be found together, so that in this transformation period, the European countries would not lag behind each other in development,” says Briškens.

Also, the ministerial meeting is planned to discuss the use of railway potential, including the European night train, and the industry’s biggest challenges in the future, i.e. see on how to strengthen the resilience of our transport networks in the face of geopolitical upheaval and climate change.