Rail Baltica: Ingerop and Rendel to coordinate Latvian section of project

Ingerop and its UK subsidiary, Rendel, have been appointed to coordinate civil engineering and track laying for the construction of the Latvian section of Rail Baltica as part of a consortium led by Eiffage Génie Civil SAS (France), Budimex S.A. and Rizzani de Eccher S.p.A (ERB Rail). ERB Rail was awarded the FIDIC (international federation of consulting engineers) contract by Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas (EDZL), Rail Baltica’s representative in Latvia.

The Latvian section, which is 230 kilometres long and will cost 3.7 billion euros, includes 175 engineering structures and 11 wildlife crossings. It aims to integrate the Baltic States into the European rail network, linking Helsinki in Finland and Warsaw in Poland. The track design will enable passenger trains to travel at 249 kilometres per hour and freight trains at 120 kilometres per hour.

The structures will include railway substructures, level crossings and other railway infrastructure. The first phase of construction, which will cost approximately 165 million euros and extend 13 kilometres, will begin in summer 2024 in the Bauska region of Latvia, near Lecava.

To co-ordinate the design of the Latvian section of Rail Baltica, Ingerop has set up Ingerop Latvia to manage the project. A large team, based in Riga, will be supported by Ingerop experts in France, Spain and the UK through its subsidiary Rendel. The team’s services include control of the design process, cost optimisation and interoperability, to ensure that the project is designed to current standards and offers optimum value for money.

The Ingerop team and its Latvian partners will collaborate closely with ERB Rail to ensure the successful completion of the project.

“Rail Baltica is an extremely important project for connecting Europe’s rail networks. We are extremely proud of our team’s success in what was a very competitive tender. High-speed rail transport is one of Ingerop’s core business areas, and we are delighted to be working on the Rail Baltica project. Our current portfolio of projects, which includes the High Speed 2 (HS2) line in the UK, design activities for the Kenitra-Marrakesh high-speed line (LGV) in Morocco, and the Lyon-Turin LGV tunnel in France, has enabled us to win this contract,” said Yves Metz, President of the Ingerop Group.

“After working closely together on HS2 and the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire in France, we are delighted to be working with Eiffage again. The Rail Baltica project will strengthen our relationship with Eiffage, Rizzani de Eccher and Budimex.”