A consortium encompassing VINCI subsidiary Cobra IS and Elecnor has been awarded the Rail Baltica project's electrification contract in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The share of Cobra IS is worth €885 million.

The consortium will electrify 870 km of rail in the three countries. The works will unfold in two phases, the first of which (worth €950 million) will start on October 1st and will be completed in 2030.

This is the largest rail electrification project currently under way in Europe and will link the Baltic railway system to the rest of Europe. At the contract signing ceremony, top-level policymakers from the European Union and the Baltic nations underlined the importance of building a unified and interoperable network enabling seamless transport services for passengers and goods.

This will be the first time that Static Frequency Converter (SFC) technology is deployed on a large scale. The technology will be powered by 10 substations, and will make the rail network more reliable, more efficient and more environmentally-friendly.