# Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1723 of 26 October 2018 on the Rail Baltica cross-border project on the North Sea-Baltic Core Network Corridor (notified under document C(2018) 6969) (Only the Estonian, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Swedish texts are authentic), Article 2: Actions and timetable

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland shall ensure the timely implementation of the following actions:
(a) by 31 December 2018:
(1) consolidated preliminary technical design shall be completed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania;
(2) strategic environmental assessments shall be completed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (except from Kaunas to Vilnius and from Kaunas to Lithuania/Poland state border);
(3) the study on infrastructure management in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania shall be completed and submitted to the national authorities of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania;
(b) by 30 June 2019: a decision on the management of the built infrastructure shall be concluded by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania;
(c) by 31 December 2020:
(1) strategic environmental assessments shall be completed in Lithuania from Kaunas to Lithuania/Poland state border;
(2) the spatial (territorial) planning shall be completed and the detailed route alignment approved in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (except from Kaunas to Vilnius);
(3) construction shall have been started in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania;
(4) the technical design of the railway shall be completed in Estonia, Latvia (central section around Riga) and Lithuania (except from Kaunas to Vilnius and from Kaunas to Lithuania/Poland state border);
(5) detailed studies and environmental procedures defining the technical parameters and timeframe for the implementation of the section Ełk-Poland/Lithuania state border shall be completed in Poland;
(d) by 31 December 2021:
(1) the land acquisition shall be completed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (except from Kaunas to Vilnius and from Kaunas to Lithuania/Poland state border);
(2) the spatial (territorial) planning and strategic environmental assessments shall be completed and the detailed route alignment approved in Lithuania from Kaunas to Vilnius;
(3) the technical design shall be completed in Latvia (northern and southern sections);
(e) by 31 December 2023:
(1) the land acquisition shall be completed in Lithuania from Kaunas to Vilnius and from Kaunas to Lithuania/Poland state border;
(2) the technical design of the railway shall be completed in Lithuania from Kaunas to Lithuania/Poland state border and from Kaunas to Vilnius;
(f) by 31 December 2025:
(1) the railway infrastructure shall be completed as a double-track railway line for mixed traffic, suitable for minimum 740-m long freight trains, electrified, in UIC gauge, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland;
(2) the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) shall be deployed to achieve the full interoperability, in accordance with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/6, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland;
(3) capacity shall be ensured for the trans-shipment in existing and new rail-road terminals, which shall be connected by a fast conventional double track electrified railway line and European standard gauge (1 435 mm).

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2018/1723/article/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2018-1723/article-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.