Eiffage, Budimex and Rizzani de Eccher win in consortium the civil engineering and track-laying works of the 230-kilometre Latvian section of the Rail Baltica project

Vélizy-Villacoublay, 22 December 2023

8:30

Press Release

Eiffage, Budimex and Rizzani de Eccher win in consortium the civil engineering and track-laying works 

of the 230-kilometre Latvian section of the Rail Baltica project

The ERB Rail joint venture, made up of Eiffage, through its subsidiary Eiffage Génie Civil (lead contractor and 50% shareholder in the joint venture), Budimex, a subsidiary of Ferrovial, and Rizzani de Eccher, won the civil engineering and track-laying contract for the approximately 230-kilometre section of the new Rail Baltica high-speed line in Latvia. The aim of this line is to integrate the Baltic States into the European rail network by creating a connection between Helsinki (Finland) and Warsaw (Poland).

The contract was awarded by the public company Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas (EDZL), who is national implementing body of Rail Baltica in Latvia, acting on behalf of Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia. The public company RB RAIL AS, made up of and run by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, is coordinating this priority project for the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).

The contract, which includes 175 engineering structures and 11 animal crossings, is estimated to €3.7 billion. It will be subject to several multi-annual purchase orders. 85% of this project is financed by the European fund Connecting Europe Facility and 15% by the Republic of Latvia. 

The future cross-border railway line will enable to further the development of a single European market thanks to the development of trade facilitated by interoperability between the various transport networks (land, river, and air). It will also contribute to increase the share of the most environmentally-friendly modes of transport. 

The section won by ERB Rail will be designed at 249 km/h for passenger trains and 120 km/h for freight trains. 

The mobilization of the work team is scheduled for the first semester of 2024 after receiving notice to proceed of the first 13-kilometre section whose financing is secured up to €165 million. 

Within the consortium, Eiffage, a major player in construction and concessions in Europe, was involved in the Bretagne - Pays de la Loire high-speed line in France and is participating in works on the UK High Speed 2 line linking London to Birmingham. Rizzani de Eccher is already working in Latvia on the construction of the Rail Baltica Riga Central Hub, and Budimex is the leading construction company in Poland.

About Eiffage  

Eiffage is one of Europe’s leading construction and concessions companies. The Group’s activities are organised around the following business lines: construction, property and urban development, civil engineering, metal, roads, energy systems and concessions. Thanks to the experience of its 76,300 employees, Eiffage generated revenue of €20.3 billion in 2022, of which 30% was outside France.

About Eiffage Génie Civil

Eiffage Génie Civil actively specialises in all aspects of civil engineering. Its teams work on a large number of structural projects in both France and abroad, from design through to construction, as well as demolition, structural repairs and maintenance. 

Press contact Marguerite Richebé Tel : +33 1 71 59 51 02 marguerite.richebe@eiffage.com