Lithuania’s Kaišiadorys-Klaipėda-railway line to be electrified

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Work involves the design and installation of power lines at minimum heights of 5.75 m in stations and on open sections and 6 m where the tracks are on different elevations.Other elements to be designed and installed are power supply infrastructure, including foundations, poles and wires; traction substations; autotransformers; power networks; and 110-kV overhead cables connecting traction substations with the national electrical grid.Further activities entail adaptation of signalling, traffic control and telecommunications systems.Along with Kaišiadorys and Klaipėda, the project will be implemented in the municipalities of Jonava, Kėdainiai, Radviliškis, Šiauliai, Telšiai, Plungė and Kretinga.A key rail linkA component of the core Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), the Kaišiadorys- Klaipėda section is part of the 423.9 km line linking Klaipėda with the Lithuania-Belarus border. More than 60 % of rail freight transported to the Port of Klaipėda goes via this line, which is also used by over 38 % of all railway passengers in Lithuania.Although electrification of railway lines is a key provision of the TEN-T development guidelines, Lithuania currently only has 157.7 km of electrified line, or 8 % of its railway network, compared with an average of 52.7 % for all EU Member States in 2016.Due the low level of electrification, the country’s railways consume over 2.177 terajoules of diesel a year. The Klaipėda-Kaišiadorys section only uses diesel traction at present. The resulting emissions account for 3 % of all greenhouse gases emitted by the Lithuanian transport sector.Cleaner airElectrification of the section will contribute to the shift from using fossil fuels to renewable energy in the rail sector, thereby cutting air pollution. It will increase the efficiency of the railways by reducing expenses related to fuel and maintenance of rolling stock.The implementation of environmentally friendly measures should increase the attractiveness of the railways for passenger and goods transport.Diversifying freight flowsGeopolitical issues such as economic sanctions against Belarus are the main factor that could prevent traffic volumes from keeping pace with forecasted future traffic flows.While the effects of any sanctions are likely to be short-lived, to ensure that long-term demand does not lag behind the forecasts, plans are in place to diversify freight flows and develop new services.Total investment and EU fundingTotal investment for the project “Electrification of the railway section Kaišiadorys – Klaipėda (Draugystės station)” is EUR 383 300 953, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 158 023 509 through the “EU Structural Funds Investments” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Railways (TEN-T core network)”.