April 10 – 11, 2018, Tallinn

The milestone international two-day event of the Rail Baltica project in 2018 on Rail Baltica economic potential, procurement regulation and organization, as well as facilitation of suppliers' networking. It will bring together top executives and decision makers, rail, logistics and economics professionals, influential politicians and institutions as well as potential suppliers for the project from across Europe.

Livestream

During the event here you will be able to watch livestream

“Last year all three Baltic countries confirmed their long-term commitment to the Rail Baltica project development, and now the project has entered its next phase – the Design Phase. Undoubtedly, the project has both national, regional as well as European value. Rail Baltica is expected to have a major impact on the economic development of the region and will change its urban and economic landscape for good. The Rail Baltica Global Forum 2018 will bring together the best ideas, practice and solutions for the development of the new railway infrastructure.”

Baiba Rubesa, former CEO of RB Rail AS

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PROGRAMME

Day 1April 10, 2018

Download the PDF version of the Day 1 programme

9:00–10:00	Registration and Coffee / Networking
10:00–10:40	Opening Session Opening speech H.E. Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister, Republic of Estonia Video speech (transcript) Ms. Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Mobility and Transport Rail Baltica on track (presentation) Ms. Baiba Rubesa, CEO and Chairperson of the Management Board, RB Rail AS
10:45–11:45	Ministerial Panel Discussion “North Sea- Baltic TEN-T Corridor - its Role and Impact on the North Eastern European Transport Sector” Ms. Kadri Simson, Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure, Republic of Estonia Mr. Uldis Augulis, Minister of Transport, Republic of Latvia Mr. Rokas Masiulis, Minister of Transport and Communications, Republic of Lithuania Mr. Andrzej Bittel, Undersecretary of State of Ministry of Infrastructure, Republic of Poland Mr. Mattias Landgren, State Secretary of Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, Kingdom of Sweden Moderated by Ms. Catherine Trautmann, European Coordinator, the North Sea-Baltic TEN-T Corridor
11:45–12:15	Coffee Break
12:15–13:05	Working Session I “Post-2020 Financing of the EU Transport Projects, including Rail Baltica” European Parliament’s Vision and Expectations from the MFF Post-2020. Prospect for Rail Baltica Mr. Petri Sarvamaa, Vice-Chair of Budget Committee, European Parliament Usage of Cohesion Funds for Transport Projects Now and in Future Mr. Peter Berkowitz, Head of the Smart and Sustainable Growth Unit, DG REGIO CEF Transport Financing Instrument and its Impact on Rail Baltica Mr. Herald Ruijters, Director for Investment, Innovative and Sustainable Transport, DG MOVE, EU Commission
13:05–14:00	Lunch
14:00–15:30	Working Session II “Rail Baltica and Finland” Why Rail Baltica is Important to Finland? (presentation) Ms. Sabina Lindström, Director from Networks Department, Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland The Results of Muuga Terminal Study (presentation) Mr. Meelis Niinepuu, Partner, Civitta International and Civitta Estonia Study Results of the FinEst link project – Impact on Rail Baltica (presentation) Mr. Kari Ruohonen, Project Director, FinEst Link Project Polar Silk Road – New Freight Opportunities (presentation) Dr. Baozhi Cheng, Senior Fellow, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), China Q&A Session
15:30–16:00	Coffee Break
16:00–17:10	Panel Discussion “Cross-border Transport Infrastructure Megaproject Implementation and Management. Lessons Learned for Rail Baltica” (presentation by K. Briškens) Mr. Tristano Sainati, (presentation) Research Fellow,School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, UK Dr. Gerhard Troche, (presentation) Senior Advisor International Projects, GYSEV Zrt., Hungary Mr. Chris Docker, (presentation) Director, Strategy & International Development, ATKINS, UK
17:10–17:15	Closing Remarks

Day 2April 11, 2018

Download the PDF version of the Day 2 Programme

7:30–10:00	Registration and Coffee / Networking
8:15–9:30	Panel Discussion "Rail Baltica - professional workforce needs" organised in cooperation with the Rail Baltica Business Network Preface: Study on the business case of the Rail Baltic Project. The summary of main expectations of the business sector to Rail Baltica (presentation) Mr. Ervinas Śkikunas, CIVITTA Lithuania Mr. Andres Trink, Chairman of the Management Board, Merko Ehitus AS Mr. Toomas Tamsar, Chairman of the Management Board, Estonian Employers` Confederation Mr. Kaspars Rokens, COO and Member of Management Board, RB Rail AS Ms. Baiba Fromane, Head of the Partnership, Latvian Construction Entrepreneur Mr. Ervinas Śkikunas, CIVITTA Lithuania Moderated by Mr. Andreas Kaju, Partner at Meta Advisory Group, Estonia
9:30–10:00	Coffee Break
10:00–16:30	Suppliers’ Meeting Point
10:00–11:15	Opening Session Welcoming speech (transcript) Ms. Riia Sillave, Chairperson of the Supervisory Board, RB Rail AS Rail Baltica Project in 2017. Ambitions for 2018 (presentation) Ms. Baiba A. Rubesa, CEO, Chairperson of Management Board, RB Rail AS Rail Baltica Studies - Role in the Project Implementation (presentation) Mr. Kaspars Rokens, COO and Member of Management Board, RB Rail AS Rail Baltica Procurement in 2018 (presentation) Mr. Kaspars Rokens, COO and Member of Management Board, RB Rail AS Main Procurement Challenges, Lessons Learnt & Supplier Survey Results (presentation) Mr. Kristjan Piirsalu, Head of Procurement, RB Rail AS Q&A session
11:15–11:45	Coffee Break
11:45–13:10	Working session I "Design phase of the Rail Baltica project" Design phase of Rail Baltica (presentation) Mr. Kaido Zimmermann, Head of Planning and Design Department, RB Rail AS Mr. Jean-Marc Bedmar, Head of Systems & Operation Department, RB Rail AS Rail Baltica Global Project Design Guidelines (presentation) Ms. Elodie Faivre, Project Manager for Rail Baltica Design Guidelines preparation, SYSTRA S.A Rail Baltica - Railway line design Tenders in 2018/2019 (presentation) Mr. Kaido Zimmermann, Head of Planning and Design Department, RB Rail AS Design Tenders of Local Facilities in Latvia in 2018 (presentation) Mr. Agnis Driksna, Director, Development and Communication Department at Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas SIA Design Tenders of Local Facilities in Estonia in 2018 (presentation) Mr. Anvar Salomets, Chief Technical Officer, Rail Baltic Estonia Q&A session
13:10–14:00	Lunch
14:00–15:00	Working Session II "Rail Baltica - Digitalisation and Innovation opportunities" Why digitalisation and innovation should be on agenda of any new transportation infrastructure project? (presentation) Mr. Carlo Borghini, Executive Director, Shift2Rail Rail Baltica - a platform for digitalization and innovation (presentation) Mr. Kaspars Briškens, Business Development Manager, RB Rail AS ADIF digitalisation and Innovation experience (presentation) Mr. Javier Ibáñez de Yrigoyen, International Projects Directorate / Innovation Projects, ADIF What are the driverless train opportunities for Rail Baltica? (presentation) Mr. Paulius Valiulis, Head of Innovation Laboratory, Lithuanian railways AB Q&A session
15:00–15:30	Coffee Break
15:30–16:15	Working Session III "The role of the BIM in the construction of transport infrastructure" Rail Baltica BIM Implementation Vision (presentation) Mr. Raitis Bušmanis, BIM Manager, RB Rail AS Rail Baltica – a part of Digital Building Initiative in Estonia (presentation) Mr. Risto Vahenurm, Managing Director, Estonian Digital Construction alliance BIM - The challenges and opportunities for Rail (presentation) Mr. Simon Wray, Infrastructure Lead, The BIMstitute, UK Q&A session
16:15- 16:30	Closing remarks

The Forum is organised by RB Rail AS, a joint venture of three Baltic States, and supported by the project’s national implementing bodies in the three countries – Rail Baltic Estonia OÜ, SIA Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas, and UAB Rail Baltica Statyba. All cooperation partners are responsible for the implementation of Rail Baltica – the largest railroad infrastructure project - to be constructed - in the Baltic countries in the last 100 years. Rail Baltica will form a new economic corridor, which will closely connect the North East of the Europe with the rest of the European Union.

The sole responsibility of this publication lies with the author. The European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.