Zmiany w infrastrukturze transportowej Litwy po wstąpieniu do UE

Abstract

The lack of high quality physical infrastructure causes the situation where Lithuania, a sea state crossed by two international trans-European transport corridors, does not fully exploit its potential in terms of transit and tourism. Lithuanian roads need upgrading, in order to cope with increasing volumes of traffic and congestion. This leads to deteriorating traffic safety conditions, to increased waste in transportation time and to increased levels of congestion. Lithuanian railway network is currently under-utilised in terms of rail freight. Up to twice as much rail freight per year could he transported compared with current levels. However, such flows of cargoes are not achieved due to the unsatisfactory condition of the railway infrastructure and outdated rolling stock. Up till joining the EU, the Baltic Slates and Poland have been focusing the main investments on the east-west transport corridors. From 1st May 2004, after accession of these countries to the EU, the north-south direction has become a strategic one. Aiming at integration into a single European economic area, the north-south direction has become vital. Nowadays, the Baltic Slates have the best connections by the road transport. On 9 October 2003, the European Commission recognized the railway line Rail Baltic to be a significant project of Europe and included it into the list of priorities of international transport development. The decision of the EC enabled Lithuania and other Baltic States to make use of the necessary support from the EU Cohesion and Structural funds. This would ensure certain economic benefits and main goal - strengthening of metropolitan regions Warsaw-Kaunas/'Vilnius-Riga-Tallinn - would be achieved.