The only party not to sign up to the deal was Lithuanian railway company Lietuvos Geleženkeliai - though Lithuanian representatives said the hesitation was simply a matter of "technical details" and that a signature would be forthcoming in a few days' time.
The deal is intended to agree procurement practices for the major infrastructure project so that despite crossing national borders, future passengers on the pan-Baltic railway will not be presented with confusingly different infrastructure. More immediately the agreement aims to save money by eliminating unnecessary duplication or overlaps based on narrow national interests.
As previously reported, the hope is that the €5 billion project will be completed by 2025 and that by 2030 it will be transporting 2 million passengers and 9 million tons of cargo per annum.
