Rail Baltica

Map of Rail Baltica: The solid line represents the option involving a new railway; The dashed line is the alternative of upgrading the old railway. (Country names are in Latvian)

Rail Baltica is one of the priority projects of the European Union Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). The project is supposed to link Finland, the Baltic States and Poland and also improve the connection between Central and Eastern Europe and Germany. It envisages a continuous rail link from Tallinn (Estonia), to Warsaw (Poland), going via Riga, (Latvia) and Kaunas, (Lithuania). It will by-pass the Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia and Hrodno, Belarus where the two historic rail routes Poland-Lithuania have been going.

The section from Helsinki to Tallinn will be operated by existing commercial ferries. In the future a proposed Helsinki to Tallinn Tunnel could provide a rail link between the two cities. The length of the railway between Tallinn and Warsaw will be at least 950 kilometres (590 mi).

Route and standard

There are two options to build the Rail Baltica. Both options include an upgrade of the existing railway (with standard gauge) Warsaw–Białystok–Ełk–Trakiszki to 160 km/h (99 mph), and a new railway with standard gauge Trakiszki-Kaunas.

Option one is to upgrade the existing railway Joniškis–Riga–Tartu–Tallinn to 160 km/h, keeping Russian gauge, and a new railway Kaunas-Joniškis with 160 km/h. Because of the break of gauge, a freight reloading (or bogie exchange) station would be placed near Kaunas. Passengers would have to change trains in Kaunas.

Option two is a new railway with 200 km/h (120 mph) speed and standard gauge: Trakiszki-Kaunas-Joniškis-Riga-Pärnu-Tallinn. There is an EU high-speed directive saying that the new TEN-T lines should have 250 km/h (160 mph) speed, and upgrades 200 km/h speed but it is hard to finance the project as it is.

Reports in March 2011 indicate plans are moving towards a standard gauge railway, with a slightly modified route: Tallinn–Pärnu–Riga–Bauska–Panevėžys–Kaunas with a feasibility study expected until May 2011.The feasibility study recommended as expected standard gauge and examined the modified route. It says line will cost about 3.86 bln Euro in total.

Financing and the time horizon

The project will be financed by the member states and by the European Union TEN-T budget (€124 million), Structural and Cohesion Funds provided to the EU New Member States. The total cost is expected to be around €1.5 billion for option one and around €2.4 billion for option two.

The first phase of the project will be completed by 2013, while the second phase should be finished in 2020.

The 66 kilometres (41 mi) line between Tartu to Valga (on the Latvian border) in Estonia was the first part to be renovated. This was done by the Finnish VR Group from 2008 to 2010. The cost was €40M.

In Lithuania, the two parts Polish border-Marijampolė (using standard gauge) and Šiauliai-Latvian border (using broad gauge) will be new built, to be finished 2015, costing €270M. In Latvia the existing railway will be upgraded, to be finished 2015, costing €97M. The EU will contribute with about 25 % of the cost for the three parts.

The EU also finances a technical study for a new standard gauge railway between Estonia and Poland.

According to Juhan Parts, the Estonian Minister of Economy and Communications, on the 10th of November, 2011, the prime ministers of the baltic countries agreed to form a joint venture to move the project forward. The current timetable envisages construction starting in 2018 and completion in 2023.

Opportunities

Rail Baltica creates the possibility to shift the major freight transport in the regions from road to rail, which for the time being is transported towards Russia and then north by heavy trucks. In the case of Poland the trucks follow the local roads and directly cross the villages of Podlaskie Voivodeship (north-east Poland) creating danger to their inhabitants. Transporting the freight by rail would increase the safety of the local roads and also reduce the CO₂ emissions and oil consumption. Furthermore, it would create a convenient passenger connection which does not exist at the moment.

Rail Baltica could be a sustainable sound alternative to the planned Via Baltica motorway which has proved controversial on environmental grounds. In contrast to Via Baltica, the implementation of the Rail Baltica project could become a good practical example of sustainable and efficient utilisation of the Cohesion and Structural Funds, bringing social and economical benefits, as well as environmental and climatic improvements.^{[citation needed]}

Railways currently have a low number of passengers along the route, especially in Estonia and Latvia. International travel is done by car, bus and air with very little by train.

Constraints to be resolved

One of the project's aspects is the conversion of the Baltic States' rail network to Standard Gauge (1,435 mm/4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in), thus improving rail integration with Europe at the expense of integration with the Russian system (1,520 mm/4 ft 11 ⁵⁄₆ in).

If the north-south railways are converted to standard gauge, the west-east railways are still not likely to be converted, since they are used for freight and passenger trains to Russia. There is even a consideration to build a new high-speed railway Riga–Moscow. That project is not prioritized by the EU and Latvia until Rail Baltica is finished.

See also

• Via Baltica (E67)
• Helsinki to Tallinn Tunnel

External links

• Website of the Rail Baltica project
• Rail Baltica Growth Corridor: Kick-Off presentations June 2011
• European Commission: Progress report on Rail Baltica compiled by the European coordinator of the project Pavel Telička, July 2007- July 2008
• Information about Rail Baltica on the TEN-T website of Greens/EFA in the European Parliament
• European Commission: Feasibility study on Rail Baltica railways - Main conclusions and recommendations January 2007
• European Commission: Feasibility study on Rail Baltica railways - Annexes January 2007