The technical inspection of Latvia’s state railways has given the green light for the construction of the Salaspils Intermodal Logistics Center (SILC), which is a crucial hub along the Rail Baltica line, this is reported by the railway transport news portal, Railway Supply.

It is planned that once SILC begins its operations, it will become the ‘main center for processing European standard gauge railway cargo in Latvia.’

This facility will be located approximately 20 kilometers southeast of Riga and will be connected to both the existing broad gauge (1520 mm) and the new European gauge (1435 mm).

Furthermore, it will be equipped to transport craneless semi-trailers.

One of the advantages of SILC is its proximity to the Skrotava station, which is one of the key railway freight stations in Latvia.

SILC will be one of the three main intermodal terminals along the Rail Baltica line, along with terminals in Palemonas (Lithuania) and Muuga (Estonia).

The terminal will cover an area of 200 hectares, and its railway tracks will extend for over 7 kilometers. The exact start date for construction is currently unknown.

Currently, work is ongoing to optimize and detail the design of SILC, with completion planned for the end of 2024, according to Rail Baltica.

The project is being developed by the Latvian engineering consulting firm BRD Projekts and the Italian engineering company Sintagma.

These two companies also collaborated on the design of the railway line that will connect Riga to Lithuania, and the construction of this line is expected to begin at the end of this year.

It’s worth noting that the European Commission has allocated an additional 928 million euros to the Baltic countries for the Rail Baltica project.