LTG Infra retenders two Rail Baltica contracts after terminations

Lithuania's Rail Baltica delivery body LTG Infra will retender the Berčiūnai–Joniškėls section later this year and has already launched a new procurement to finish the 1·51 km Neris river bridge, after terminating contracts with two separate general contractors.

The Berčiūnai–Joniškėls construction contract with HISK was signed at the end of 2025, but preparation of the documentation required to begin works took longer than expected. That delay produced a dispute over contractual conditions and implementation deadlines. Rather than enter lengthy court proceedings, the two parties reached a mediated agreement to terminate the contract and settle their mutual obligations. LTG Infra says a new procurement will run on an accelerated timetable.

No completion date for the section was disclosed. Whether an accelerated retender can recover the time already lost to documentation delays remains untested.

Why was the Neris bridge contract ended?

The bridge procurement follows a separate termination. LTG Infra ended its contract with Italian general contractor Rizzani de Eccher earlier this year after assessing the contractor's financial position, progress of works and fulfilment of contractual obligations — including unsuccessful settlements with subcontractors.

The new tender covers only the remaining works. LTG Infra has taken over the site, completed an inventory of the existing structure and updated the technical documentation before going to market.

The structure is roughly half finished. So far 376 piles have been installed and 11 support columns concreted, and construction of the bridge deck has started.

At 1·51 km — close to a mile — the crossing will be the longest railway bridge in the Baltic states. Because it spans a protected Natura 2000 area, it has been designed without supports in the Neris river itself, a constraint that shapes both the engineering and the cost profile of the remaining works.

Initial bids are expected at the beginning of 2027, followed by negotiations and submission of final offers. Construction is planned to resume once a new contract is signed. That timeline implies a pause on the site lasting well over a year from the termination, an interval LTG Infra has not quantified in terms of schedule impact on the Lithuanian section as a whole.

Is work continuing elsewhere?

Despite the two procurement changes, LTG Infra says construction continues on other parts of Rail Baltica in Lithuania. Ongoing works include:

• embankments and engineering structures;
• track superstructure and turnout installation;
• modernisation of the Poland–Lithuania border–Kaunas section;
• signalling and design works.

The company frames the two new procurement procedures as part of its effort to maintain construction continuity and limit further delays on the Lithuanian section of the standard-gauge line.

What has not been said?

The announcements leave several questions open. LTG Infra has not stated the value of either terminated contract, the cost of the mediated settlement with HISK, or the budget for the remaining bridge works. Nor has it published a revised opening date for the sections affected.

The terminations fit a wider pattern of procurement strain on the European-gauge project, where contractor financial capacity has repeatedly become the binding constraint. LTG Infra's claim of continuity rests on works elsewhere proceeding; whether the accelerated tenders hold their stated timelines will become clear when first bids for the Neris bridge arrive in early 2027.