On Friday, August 30, the government approved the rules prepared by the Ministry of Transport (MoT) for the acquisition of European Union (EU) funds with the aim to ensure environmentally friendly public transport and develop emission-free railway infrastructure, thus creating competitive rail passenger transport in the overall public transport system.
The approved rules have been developed to establish the procedures for the acquisition of funding and the conditions for the execution of projects under measure 2.4.1.2 "Purchase of emission-free trains - electric trains" of the EU Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027, the specific objective 2.4.1 "Promoting sustainable multimodal mobility by encouraging the use of electric vehicles".
The regulations provide that the purchase of electric trains is implemented in two phases. During the first phase, six electric trains were purchased with EU funds, within the project "Purchase of electric trains necessary for the transportation of passengers in Riga and Pierīga", launched in the 2014-2020 programming period of the EU funds. The first phase amounted to EUR 17.7 million, including EUR 12.5 million from the Cohesion Fund (CF). All six trains have been delivered, put into operation and are used for passenger transport.
The second phase provides for the purchase of nine electric trains and associated costs, including the provision of bicycle facilities on all 32 new electric trains. The total funding for the second phase is EUR 64 million, including EUR 54.4 million from the CF. The installation of bike parking facilities on all new electric trains will start at the end of 2024 and will be fully implemented by mid-2025.
The total funding amounts to EUR 81.76 million, including a maximum of EUR 66.99 million from the CF and a minimum of EUR 14.77 million from the national funding. Following the regulatory framework, the beneficiary of the funding is JSC "Pasažieru vilciens".
