According to the latest estimates, the construction of a railway connecting the Baltic countries to the European rail network will cost around ten billion euros. Traffic is scheduled to start in 2030.
TALLINN It has been planned for thirty years. Now it finally begins.
– A third of Rail Baltica’s Estonian section is under construction next year, said the CEO of Rail Baltica Estonia Anvar Salomets In the online program of the Estonian public broadcasting company ERR before Christmas.
In practice, this means that the builders of the first 21 kilometers of the railway connection have been selected. The contracts will be signed in the coming weeks. The tender for the construction of the next 50 km will be announced soon.
The company’s communications manager Priit Pruul assures that in the spring of 2024 the construction works will really begin.
– Most likely in March-April, Pruul says by phone.
Rail Baltica is a total of 870 kilometers long rail connection that runs from Tallinn through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to Poland. Estonia’s share is 213 kilometers.
The track width is 1,435 millimeters common in Europe. Currently, the gauge of the railways in the Baltic countries is the same as in Russia, i.e. 1,520 millimeters. In Finland, the track width is 1,524 millimeters.
Thus, when Rail Baltica is completed, it will seamlessly connect the Baltic countries to the rail network of the rest of Europe. The planned traveling speed of the trains is a maximum of 249 kilometers per hour.
Loud opposition in Estonia
Rail Baltica almost always does not follow existing railway lines. Because of this, the project has been loudly opposed, especially in Estonia.
Opponents would have wanted Rail Baltica to run from Estonia to Latvia along the current main line, i.e. through the cities of Tartu and Valga. However, the line approved by the government goes to Riga, the capital of Latvia, via the most direct route through Pärnu.
Rail Baltica has also been criticized as expensive and financially unprofitable.
Anvar Salomets admits that from a business perspective, a giant project like Rail Baltica is not profitable.
However, according to him, the travel speed, traffic safety and environmental friendliness make it a strategically profitable project.
The project has been delayed due to disputes and the different pace of decision-making in the three Baltic countries. Back in 2018, it was estimated that operations would start in 2026. Now the estimate has moved four years to 2030.
The price has tripled compared to the original plans and double compared to the last official report. The price has been affected by general inflation and the increase in construction costs due to the war in Ukraine.
The total price tag for Rail Baltica is now around ten billion euros. Estonia’s share is three billion.
85 percent of the project has so far been paid for by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which supports the development of transport, energy and telecommunications networks.
In connection with the new line, the southeast side of Tallinn’s core will rise Ülemiste main train station.
The station building, which costs 45 million euros, should be completed in 2027. Then it is supposed to form a travel center with the nearby airport, from which there is a tram connection to the passenger port.
Latvia continues despite the price increase
Also in Latvia, the Rail Baltica project seems to be progressing. The Latvian government approved before Christmas the costs of building a rail connection despite their significant rise.
The latest estimate of the price of Rail Baltica’s share in Latvia is EUR 3.7 billion.
According to the Minister of Transport of Latvia, the Baltic countries should consider what other means can be used to finance Rail Baltica in addition to EU funds and the countries’ own funding.
– No one has guaranteed Latvia or the other Baltic countries that 85 percent EU funding would be available up to an unlimited amount, minister Kaspars Briškens stated in an interview with the Latvian public broadcasting company.