On 18 January 2023, the Rail Baltica central project coordinator and joint venture RB Rail AS, Centralny Port Komunikacyjny Sp. z o.o. (CPK) and Správa železnic, státní organizace (SZCZ), the national railway infrastructure manager in the Czech Republic signed the Memorandum of Understanding to lay out the cooperation principles and further steps in strengthening cooperation for the development of high-speed rail in the region. Signing took place during the International Conference “Railway Direction Days 2023”, in Warsaw.
Through this tripartite agreement, the parties have formalised commitment to cooperate in order to promote and develop high-speed railway projects within the respective countries and cross-borderly, ensuring further knowledge and experience sharing in the different areas of high-speed development, e.g., traffic forecasting and traffic modelling, identification of new opportunities, joint planning timelines and alignment on implementation of preparatory works, investment models as well as planning and organizing common actions to promote high-speed railway at the EU and international level.
“Considering the scale and impact of the Rail Baltica Global project not only in the Baltic States, but also the whole Europe, we must recognize benefits and use the full potential from strengthening cooperation with other megaprojects. Not only we can learn from each other, but through this cooperation we can together enhance better solutions for mobility, connectivity, business development, and economic growth in North-East and Central Europe by delivering sustainable, interoperable and resilient transport infrastructure that corresponds to the European Green Deal goals and Sustainable and Smart Mobility strategy priorities of EU. We have already made significant progress by establishing regular cooperation formats with Centralny Port Komunikacyjny, and will be honoured to now extend the cooperation also with the national railway infrastructure manager in the Czech Republic,” ephasized Mr Agnis Driksna, CEO and Chairperson of the Management Board at RB Rail AS.
“This is the unique, one-of-a-kind time in our common history when, functioning together in the region, we can create an unrivaled rail transportation offering. We are drawing lessons from HSR investments in the West. As a result, our projects can bring about an economic domino effect, giving a boost to other industries and sectors,” says Mr Mikołaj Wild, CEO of CPK.
„The cooperation between railway infrastructure project developers in the region is viewed by Správa železnic as a cornerstone for future rapid development in the 3Seas area. Faster travel between hubs, better service quality to passengers, improved safety as well as alleviating capacity on conventional rail for freight seem to be the major benefits that will boost economic growth and multi-lateral relationships across the region. Given the long-term nature of these projects we understand we must not miss this crucial momentum to invest now in the future, as the positive benefits will be enormous not only for our countries but also for the whole of Europe,” said Mr Radek Čech, Director International Affairs Dept. of Správa železnic.
RB Rail AS is a multinational joint venture of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania established to lead and coordinate the implementation of the Rail Baltica Global Project, the first infrastructure development project of this scale in the Baltic region. RB Rail AS is responsible for the development, construction, and commercialization of the railway infrastructure megaproject.
Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) is a new transport development program in Poland – a strategic investment that is extremely important for the economic development of the country and the region and, of utmost importance, the security of Europe as a whole. It’s a great infrastructure project on an incredible scale to integrate air, rail, and road transportation quickly and efficiently. The CPK project includes, among others, rail investments: a transport hub at the airport in the centre of Poland and a network of new railway lines, mainly high speed, with a total length of nearly 2,000 km. This will make it possible to travel between Warsaw and Poland’s largest cities in no more than 2.5 hours. The first preparatory construction work on new CPK airport is planned to begin in 2023.
Správa železnic (SZCZ) is a state organization responsible for maintenance, modernization and development of the railway network in the Czech Republic, part of which is also development of the new HSR system. Further, SZCZ also provides the operation and capacity management as well as asset management on the Czech railway network. SZCZ is a member of UIC (International Union of Railways), CER (Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies) and other significant railway associations.