‘Too soon to scrap away broad gauge tracks,’ says Latvia
Image: Latvian Railways
The decision of EU transport ministers that all EU member states should devise a plan to adopt the 1435mm railway gauge by 2025-2026 keeps finding resistance in the Baltic states. The recently appointed Latvian transport minister Jānis Vitenbergs clarified that the transition could not occur without the EU’s co-financing and that the timing is not right to scrap away 1524mm gauge tracks entirely.
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As well other, crucial, strategic, matters have to be attended and ensured now requested, for a railway proving a high quality, an equal mode, within an intermodal system…
Short of robustness (resiliency and redundancy) currently railways is stuck, at standards, in no respect optimal…
Requested, added load and capacity…, now left to be provided by long trains…, is not optimal, neither sustainable, etc., etc.
(Regrettably, TEN-T now is “cementing” and severely obstructing.)
Baltic states have 1520 railway. 1524 is in Finnland.
Second – current 1520 tracks can be used to arrange intermodal cargo traffic between Tallinn (Muuga port) via Riga (Riga port) up to the Kaunas (junction point with 1435 gauge). It is logical to use existing tracks to attract stadard loading units from road to rail from via Baltika route. Simply build a couple of wagons for 1520 gauge according to TSI WAG rules and you got supporting track for upcoming RailBaltica. USE BOTH GAUGES!