A major new high-speed railway link is set to connect three Eastern European countries, substantially reducing travel times.
The ambitious project is part of the EU’s North Sea-Baltic TEN-T corridor and is set to cost a cool £13 billion.
The EU and the three Baltic countries that stand to benefit from the scheme—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—will provide funding.
The new line will cover 540 miles and is the largest regional infrastructure project in the last 100 years.
Currently, there is no direct link that crosses the Baltics and connects with Poland.
However, Rail Baltica will do just that, slashing travel times while also bringing economic and environmental benefits.
Construction has already started on a new passenger terminal in Estonia, at Ülemiste, not far from the capital, Tallinn.
“This will be the network’s most northern point, the starting point of 215km of railway in Estonia and 870km across the three Baltic States,” Anvar Salomets, CEO of Rail Baltica Estonia, told the BBC.
Since gaining their independence in the early 1990s, the Baltic states have had to rely on old, creaking Soviet infrastructure.
As the Soviet track width differs from Europe’s, passengers have had to change trains when they reach the Polish border.
The new network will use the European track width and connect seamlessly with railways across the EU.
Trains will also run at 155 miles per hour, double the current top speed of 74 mph.
Train times between Tallinn and Vinius in Lithuania will be cut by as much as three times, reducing the journey from 12 hours to under four.
“It’ll be a game-changer, decreasing the environmental impact across our whole transport sector,” said Salomets.
The line will also help to transport Nato troops quickly and effectively through the region.
Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine has given the project a new impetus as fears grow that Moscow could target the Baltics next.
“Rail Baltica will increase military mobility and allow trains to go directly from the Netherlands to Tallinn,” Commander Peter Nielsen of NATO’s Force Integration Unit said.
