The international tender was won by the consortium BSL. Infra, which consists of the Austrian company Swietelsky and Latvian construction companies including road construction company SIA Binders and AS LNK Industries.
The construction works are planned to be carried out in five stages with completion due in December 2025.
The first stage of work - construction of Rail Baltica railway infrastructure from Imanta station to the airport, as well as the construction of the station terminal – is to be completed by March/April 2023.
Latvian minister of transport Tālis Linkaits said: “Implementation of large infrastructure projects has significant added value. The signing of the construction contract is a positive signal to stimulate the economy, creating hundreds of new jobs over the next five years and boosting national GDP growth. Investments in infrastructure will strengthen Riga’s position as a Baltic aviation hub. This way, ensuring accessible traffic between Riga and other regions of Latvia. In addition, residents of Lithuania and Estonia will also have easier access to the Riga Airport than currently.”
Kaspars Vingris, the chairman of the board of Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas, the body implementing the project in Latvia, said: “Construction of the second most important section of Rail Baltica now will begin in Latvia. The construction of both Rail Baltica international stations and regional stations along with the associated infrastructure will be the largest constructions in the coming years, creating hundreds of jobs.”
He added: “This construction project is large, complex, and quite difficult. 32 institutions are being involved in the preparation works and much of the work is done in the challenging conditions created by the pandemic. ”
The authorised representative of the BSL Infra consortium Juris Fridmanis said: “We are glad that the amount of work invested in preparing our application for the tender has resulted in signing the contract. We are aware of our responsibility that lies within this challenging and historically important work, in which a significant part of the future transportation infrastructure landscape of Latvia will be built.”
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