Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Finnish ministers on Monday signed the Rail Baltic cooperation record in Riga, news portal of Estonia's national broadcaster ERR reports.
Ministers of 5 states sign Rail Baltic cooperation record
«Estonia is resolutely committed to building Rail Baltic. It is one of Europe's most important transport connections in the coming years. For Estonia a reliable and quality connection with Europe is inevitable both in regard to security as well as economy,» Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Kristen Michal said.
«The importance of the declaration signed today is in the feeling of security which is highly needed with such big joint projects,» Michal said and added that the Rail Baltic joint venture is already operating.
Preparatory works are underway and according to present plans construction of the new high-speed railway will start in 2018.
The length of the route in Estonia is 210 kilometers, its cost is about 1.2 billion euros and expected construction time at least four years. The European Commission is to make the first financing decision concerning Rail Baltic in July.