Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and Latvia’s state railway company VAS Latvijas Dzelzceļš have signed a new loan, totaling EUR 17.3 million, for the upgrade of a section of railway in the country’s east–west transport corridor.

The loan’s tenor is 10 years. This is the third loan that Latvijas Dzelzceļš has received from NIB to build a second track on the 52-kilometre Skriveri–Krustpils section of the east–west railway corridor. The two previous transactions took place in 2010 and 2012 and totaled EUR 25.6 million.

The stretch under construction is part of a strategic corridor linking Russia and Belarus with Latvia’s ports on the Baltic Sea. The modernisation of this corridor will increase the capacity of the railway network in Latvia by about 1.5 billion tonnes per kilometer per year. This would allow the company to increase its annual freight turnover by up to 8%. Construction started in 2011 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

The Latvijas Dzelzceļš (Latvian Railways) Group includes the parent company VAS Latvijas Dzelzceļš and five subsidiaries that provide railway cargo and passenger transportation, maintenance of the railway infrastructure and servicing of the rolling stock.