OREANDA-NEWS. May 06, 2014. Lithuanian Deputy Transport Minister Arijandas Sliupas has recently been visiting Brussels to drum up support for connecting Vilnius to the Rail Baltic route, although the nation initially agreed with the line only running through Kaunas.

The head of Transport Commissioner Simm Kallas's cabinet, Margus Rahuoja, told ETV on Wednesday that Vilnius is a possibility, but only if viability studies approve the connection.

He said those studies will not be ready by September, when the deadline arrives for EU funding from the current budget period.

Sliupas said those studies are expected to be completed by the end of the year, but that could mean the Rail Baltic project on the whole will be pushed into the future.

The Rail Baltic high-speed track would connect Tallinn to Berlin costing between two and four billion euros. Although details are yet unclear, construction could finish by 2023, if EU funding is received.