French railway operator SNCF, the engineering and consultancy firm Systra, and the energy and transport company Alstom have expressed interest in investing into Rail Baltic, a planned railway that would link the Baltic states with Western Europe, the Lithuanian Minister of Trans-port, Eligijus Masiulis, said in a statement on May 23. At the meeting with the minister, a representative of SNCFL, Le Roux said that, as Rail Baltic will combine a number of international transport corridors, participation in the project is a historic opportunity and must not be missed. A well-organized rail network is necessary in order to ensure attractiveness of this form of transportation, said Le Roux. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have so far signed an agreement to establish a joint company that will be responsible for carrying out the project. A working group of the three nations will meet this week in Tallinn to clarify conditions.        VES/ERR