Analysis of Compliance of the Lithuanian Railway Infrastructure as a Unified North Atlantic Treaty Organization Supply System with the Requirements

Abstract

Better military mobility in Europe is considered one of the most important aspects in ensuring better deterrence. The member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (from now on referred to as NATO) are interested in the rapid transfer of defense forces, supplies, and equipment across Europe. When transporting military cargo by railways from point A to point B, various challenges are encountered; therefore, the article aims to analyze the compliance of Lithuanian railways with the requirements set by NATO, identifying infrastructure deficiencies and threats in the transport of military equipment. In implementing the objective of the work, an analysis of scientific literature on the topic of the railway transport sector is carried out, the capacity of the Lithuanian railway transport sector to receive military cargo from allied countries, and the compliance of the Lithuanian railway infrastructure with NATO requirements are analyzed. The results found that Lithuanian railways do not meet the criteria set by NATO but can carry out military cargo transportation following the legal act SMGS (Agreement on International Carriage of Goods by Rail).