Vilnius’ municipal public transport company Susisiekimo Paslaugos is planning to purchase an international feasibility study on setting up an underground railway system or other new public transport system in the Lithuanian capital.
Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas unveiled the plans at Wednesday’s meeting of the municipal council when asked by a councillor whether the capital hopes to catch up with cities with developed metro systems, such as Helsinki and Copenhagen, in tackling congestion and pollution.
“We’ll certainly catch up and overtake them, if necessary, and a metro can help us do so,” Benkunskas said.
“However, any infrastructure system must have its purpose and logic. We live in a city of 700 square kilometres, where the population density is unevenly spread over all areas. Setting up a metro requires very serious planning and investment,” he said.
The mayor said Susisiekimo Paslaugos is preparing to purchase a feasibility study that “could help us answer the questions of how, when and in what ways we could introduce a metro or another new public transport system in the city of Vilnius”.
In autumn 2018, the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, passed a law opening the way for private investors to undertake metro construction. The regulatory framework came into force in early 2020.
Discussions on the need for an underground railway system in Vilnius have been ongoing for more than a decade now.
Vilnius public transport is currently served by buses and trolleybuses.
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