The Kaunas railway node will serve as a junction connecting tracks around the city from both the south and north. It will encompass the Kaunas railway station and provide access to the Kaunas intermodal terminal. These include signing a contract for land acquisition and starting design works for the Kaunas passenger station and various infrastructure facilities, such as vehicle and railway overpasses and crossings.
The plan involves constructing European-gauge main, arrival, and departure tracks at the existing Kaunas station while moving the 1,520 mm gauge tracks to the station's southern side. The project will also see the construction of 5 new railway viaducts and 2 bridges over the Jiesia River. Existing bridges will be reconstructed or widened. A railway tunnel near Palemonas station and 7 vehicle tunnels, reconstructed vehicle viaducts, and pedestrian crossings are planned.
The project will extend the railway road across the Palemonas-Kaunas-Jiesia and Palemonas-Kaunas HPP-Rokai-Jiesia sections, installing or reconstructing 120.8 km of railway tracks. The entire section will be electrified.
Previous public presentations of the Kaunas node's infrastructure plan occurred in March of 2023. In June, the Government approved a special plan for maintenance depots in Kaunas and Panevėžys. Other sections, including Kaunas to Vilnius and Jiesia to the Lithuanian-Polish border, are undergoing final territorial planning activities. Their infrastructure development plans are expected to be approved by mid-2024.
Rail Baltica is the largest railway infrastructure project in Baltic States history. It involves constructing an electrified dual European standard railway connecting Warsaw, Kaunas, Vilnius, Panevėžys, Riga, Pärnu, and Tallinn. The total length of Rail Baltica across the Baltic States is 870 km, with Lithuania accounting for 392 km, Latvia 265 km, and Estonia 213 km.
