LITHUANIA: Spatial planning has started for the Rūdninkai military rail link, advancing a nearly €25 million project designed to move heavy equipment and personnel through Šalčininkai district.

LTG Cargo diesel locomotive hauling freight wagons in Lithuania
An LTG Cargo locomotive with freight wagons in Lithuania. Illustrative image; it does not show the current project. Photo: Terminator216 / CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications began the land-planning stage on 7 July. The proposed branch will connect the Jašiūnai–Stasylos section with the Rūdninkai military training ground in the country’s south-east.

The preliminary planning area covers 55.9 hectares. It includes four state-owned plots, nine privately owned plots and state land that has not yet been parcelled. Authorities plan to create a new state plot of about 8.2 hectares, requiring approximately 6.2 hectares of private land to be acquired in the public interest.

The ministry has asked the Šalčininkai District Municipality, the National Land Service and Via Lietuva to assess the proposed area. Private landowners have also been informed about the preliminary boundaries.

What the Rūdninkai military rail link will include?

The new branch will use Lithuania’s 1,520 mm gauge and is intended to carry heavy military equipment, containers, other cargo and personnel. Loading and manoeuvring tracks, rear loading ramps and a dedicated side ramp are included in the scope.

A cargo yard beside the side ramp will support transfers between rail and road. Plans also cover connecting roads, lighting and a platform adapted for soldiers, along with the roadbed, embankments, bridges, culverts and crossings.

LTG Infra awarded the design-and-build contract in February to a joint venture led by AB Kauno tiltai with UAB Geležinkelio tiesimo centras. The agreement is worth almost €25 million and gives the contractor 970 days to complete the work.

Separate contracts are planned for the overhead contact system, signalling, communications and centralised traffic control as part of the wider modernisation from Juodšiliai through Jašiūnai to the training area. Land-use decisions and public-interest acquisition procedures must be completed before construction starts.

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Rail access supports the German brigade deployment

The Lithuanian government approved the branch in 2025. The training ground and its associated infrastructure have been designated projects of particular national importance for defence.

Rūdninkai is planned as the main service location for Germany’s 45th Armoured Brigade in Lithuania. The Ministry of National Defence says approximately 5,000 soldiers and civilian personnel, supported by about 2,000 military vehicles, are expected across the brigade’s Lithuanian deployment.

The brigade is expected to reach full operational capability by 2027. The rail project is therefore being developed for both equipment logistics and personnel movements, while the current planning stage settles the land required for construction.

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