Construction of the mainline of Rail Baltica starts

Today, on 26 August, Merko Ehitus Eesti and GRK Eesti signed a design-build contract with Rail Baltic Estonia for construction of the mainline of a Harju County segment of the Rail Baltica project.

The contract covers the completion of the fourth phase of the railway infrastructure, which is a segment on the mainline with a length of about 10.5 kilometres extending from the town of Saku to the boundary of Harju and Rapla counties. Besides the embankment, we will build the necessary maintenance and access routes, 1.8 km of noise barriers, and various facilities along the corridor.

‟We are making strong progress toward this year’s goal of at least 70 kilometres of the mainline of the Estonian part of Rail Baltica reaching the construction and contracting stage. The contract signed today, covering construction of 10.5 km, will help us open a new segment to construction in Harju County and the next Harju County segments will soon reach the contracting stage,” said the chairman of the management board of Rail Baltic Estonia, Anvar Salomets, at the signing.

The chairman of the management board of Merko Ehitus Eesti, Jaan Mäe, also commented: “Good cooperation is the necessary underpinning for quality completion of any construction project. Constructive and efficient communication with the customer, solution-oriented cooperation with partners and contractors are the fundamentals of success. A large and complicated phase of work is now beginning. I believe the next four years will be spent in a brisk and cooperative rhythm.”

Construction works are expected to span 48 months, which means that this section of the mainline will be completed in August 2028.

From left: GRK Eesti CEO Tiit Roben, Rail Baltic Estonia management board chairman Anvar Salomets and Merko Ehitus Eesti management board chairman Jaan Mäe