Riga’s Titanic had the same fate as its famous namesake; the difference between them lies in our Titanic colliding with the Rail Baltica project. Dismantling of the shopping centre was started today.

“Fortunately, we did not find any cultural heritage value in it, as it is simply a structure between the railway and the canal, interfering with the location of the railway viaduct. It was a single legal entity and the amount of the divestment is eight million. That is what we paid them for it.” (Kaspars Vingris, Chairman of the Board of Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas)

The workers have decided to celebrate the parting with the Titanic by playing the famous hit of Celine Dion My heart will go on.

“No dismantling process is easy, as there are always surprises. We cannot know exactly how the building was built, but the research we have done before has not revealed any great wonders so far.” Guntis Āboltiņš-Āboliņš, CEO of BeReRix)

The building on Prāgas Street was the first multi-storey car park in the centre of Riga. Fair to note, though, that it was mainly used by homeless people and undesirables than by drivers for a long time. For many years, the ground floors of the building were also used as a space for retail outlets, but in the future the new Rail Baltica railway line will pass through the building.

“According to our project, two Rail Baltica tracks will run here on an embankment supported by a vertical retaining wall. There will be a landscaped square on the other side of this wall, with both a cycling path and pedestrian traffic, which will serve as a perfect connection between the bus terminal with the railway station. We will also rebuild the bridge over the canal – a completely new one.” (Andis Linde, representative of BeReRix)

The Titāniks shopping centre, its multi-storey car park, café and hairdressing salon have now been dismantled.

For the next few weeks, tram passengers and vehicle drivers will have to cope with more significant restrictions, as there will be no vehicle traffic along Prāgas iela. Pedestrians will still have access to both the bus station and the central market.

Titāniks was built in the early 1990s. The builders planned to demolish the building within two months and replace it with a tree-lined square. The alienation of the building cost the State EUR 8 million.

Rather grand changes are planned in connection with the development of Rail Baltica in the centre of Riga, specifically in the vicinity of the Central Station and Torņakalns Station. Within the framework of the project, the tunnels of underground pedestrian crossings will disappear, the relocation of public transport stops will occur, as well as the disappearing Titāniks shopping centre - they will be replaced by a new railway bridge, while the existing one will be converted into a pedestrian bridge.

The Rail Baltica project provides for the construction of a European standard gauge railway line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border with the objective of connecting the Baltic states with other European countries by rail.

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