Transport Minister: Railway Tracks Will Not Be Dismantled for Now as Latvia Seeks Transit Cargo

Latvia will not dismantle the railway tracks linking it with Russia and Belarus, at least for the time being. The government has set aside money for such work, but it will remain unspent. Transport Minister Rihards Kozlovskis, of the New Unity party, said this in an interview with the news portal nra.lv. According to him, officials and sector specialists are working to attract cargo from Central Asian countries to the railway.

What the presidents decided

In early December last year, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Estonian President Alar Karis and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda agreed that if the three Baltic states ever decided to dismantle their rail links with Russia and Belarus, the decision would have to be a joint one.

Conflicting views

Since then, opposing opinions on the need for dismantling have been voiced. Latvia's National Armed Forces and Defence Minister Raivis Melnis have said the military has counter-mobility plans. These set out actions in case of a military threat, and the state-owned company Latvijas dzelzceļš (Latvian Railway) is involved. The minister has stressed that funding was allocated so that the tracks could be removed quickly in a potential crisis.

Meanwhile, some foreign experts urge Latvia to remove the Russian-gauge tracks immediately. Their reasoning is that after the war in Ukraine ends, competing Baltic Sea ports in Lithuania, Estonia and Poland would benefit. They also argue that dismantling would not affect Russia, since it can move tanks by road and soldiers on foot.

The railway must earn money

Until a crisis arrives, the railway has to earn its own income so that the state can subsidise it with smaller sums. Kozlovskis spoke about whether that will succeed in the interview.