The €364.5m project involved extending standard-gauge track 123km from the former break-of-gauge at Šeštokai to Marijampolė and Kaunas together with track renewals on the existing 1520mm-gauge line.
Freight trains will start using the new link within the next few months and a PKP Intercity will extend a Warsaw - Bialystok service into Lithuania from December. No decision has yet been made on when regional passenger services will begin running across the border and Butkevičius says this will depend on Poland's willingness to upgrade the line from Bialystok to the frontier. At present trains are limited to 30km/h on some sections of this line. Bulc said the issue is being discussed with the Polish minister of infrastructure.
The new line will ultimately form part of the Rail Baltica link from Poland to Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn. Last year a joint venture company was formed between the governments of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to take the project forward.
