Over €81,000 needed to preserve unfinished Rail Baltica overpass in Riga

Latvia's Ministry of Transport has submitted an informative report for approval on the government's legal acts portal, requesting €81,414 including VAT to develop a preservation project for a Rail Baltica overpass spanning Lastādijas Street and Ģenerāļa Radziņa embankment, along with its support pillar in the Daugava river.

The overpass, 140 meters long, is part of a planned bridge across the Daugava and is considered one of the most technically complex sections of the entire Rail Baltica project. It was built by SIA "Eiropas dzelzceļa līnijas" (EDzL), which explains that the exposed section of the overpass above the river now needs preservation measures until full bridge construction can resume. The next construction phase — building the remaining supports and crossing from the Zaķusala side — will proceed once adequate funding is secured and project priorities allow.

Total preservation costs

According to EDzL, preserving the entire so-called 3A sub-section of Riga Central Station, which includes both the overpass and its pillar, could cost around €551,000 excluding VAT through 2035 under a long-term preservation scenario. Minimum maintenance work until preservation begins would add another €31,069 excluding VAT. Combined, the identified preservation and maintenance needs for this section total roughly €582,069 excluding VAT.

The currently requested €81,414 (€67,284 excluding VAT) covers only the design of the preservation project itself, not the actual construction work. The ministry stresses this is an urgent preparatory step, not full funding for preservation construction, and that it would allow EDzL to clarify the scope, solutions, costs and procurement requirements for future work.

Officials note that approving the funding would be considered a necessary precaution to prevent further deterioration of the structure's technical condition and to reduce potentially larger costs to the state budget later. Once the preservation project is developed, the Cabinet of Ministers will be informed separately about the funding needed for further work.

Under the first phase of Rail Baltica in Latvia, plans call for completing the cross-border link with Lithuania and Estonia, as well as construction at Riga Airport and the southern part of Riga Central Station. The so-called "Riga loop" is not included in this first phase.