The Rail Baltica project implementer in Latvia, Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas, and the mainline contractor ERB Rail have signed notices to proceed under three additional construction permits, covering 19.62 km. This allows mainline construction works to begin in these sections.
Initial works under the three permits will include core activities such as site clearance, stump removal, and unexploded ordnance scanning. Construction will also begin on the railway embankment, along with related access and maintenance roads, culverts, and drainage ditches.
In the Rail Baltica southern mainline section (45 km) between Misa and the Lithuanian border, there are a total of 11 construction permits, representing eleven smaller and larger construction sites. Works are currently active under seven permits, covering more than 30 km, where core works and railway embankment construction are underway.
In 2025, construction preparation works in the southern mainline section have been carried out under the first four construction permits, covering 11 km. Of the total 250 hectares requiring deforestation, approximately 116 hectares within the future railway corridor have already been cleared, with a further ~84 hectares currently in progress. Unexploded ordnance scanning has been completed across almost the entire area of the first four permits, and by December 2025, 100 explosive objects had been found and neutralised.
Meanwhile, the construction coordination base for the future Rail Baltica Infrastructure Maintenance Centre, covering 16.5 hectares near Iecava, has been established and completed. Works included the construction of the railway embankment and drainage ditches, development of access roads, removal of approximately 90,000 m³ of topsoil, excavation of around 21,000 m³ of soil, and construction of embankments totalling approximately 100,000 m³.
