Voestalpine has secured a €470 million contract for Rail Baltica

The Austrian company voestalpine Railway Systems has secured a record-breaking package of framework agreements to supply infrastructure solutions for the Rail Baltica project. The total value of the contracts amounts to approximately €470 million, according to a company statement.

Under the signed agreements, voestalpine Railway Systems will supply high-tech equipment for a fully electrified railway line. The contract covers the manufacture and supply of:

1. Up to 1,000 sets of points for both standard and high-speed sections of the railway. These are designed for operation at speeds of up to 300 km/h.
2. Digital monitoring and diagnostic systems integrated directly into the points.

Each of these ‘smart’ points will be equipped with approximately 40 sensors. These will collect and transmit data on weather conditions and the technical condition of the mechanisms to analytical software in real time. The inclusion of this built-in mini-computer will simplify railway maintenance and help prevent potential accidents and breakdowns at an early stage.

Local production for the project will be set up directly in the Baltic region – at voestalpine’s plants in Lithuania and Latvia. The first prototypes are scheduled for delivery as early as 2027.

The Rail Baltica project is one of the most important and large-scale initiatives in the field of modern railway infrastructure in Europe. The new high-speed line will run from north to south, linking Helsinki and Warsaw. Five EU member states are involved in the cross-border construction: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and, indirectly (via sea links), Finland.

As reported by GMK Center, voestalpine Railway Systems had previously secured an order worth a total of €500 million from Germany’s Deutsche Bahn and Switzerland’s Schweizerische Bundesbahnen. The contracts cover the supply of rails, points systems, as well as signalling technology and monitoring systems.