Transport in Estonia

Transport in Estonia relies mainly on road and rail network. For transport in the Soviet Union, see Transport in the Soviet Union.

Roads

Estonian main and E-roads

• total: 57,565 km (including 16,465 of national roads)
• paved: 12,926 km (including 99 km of limited-access roads)

National roads

National roads form the core of Estonian road network. Their total length is 16,465 km (or 29% of all roads), 59% of them are paved. They are divided into 3 classes according to importance:

• main roads (1,601 km)
• basic roads (2,391 km)
• secondary roads (12,425 km)

Main roads

Number	E-road	Route	Length (km)	Notes
1	E20	Tallinn – Narva	212	expressway for 80 km out of Tallinn and 7 km between Kukruse and Johvi. Continues to Saint Petersburg as Russian M11
2	E263	Tallinn – Tartu – Võru – Luhamaa	286	expressway for 26 km out of Tallinn and 6 km near Mao. Crosses Estonia in southeast direction from Tallinn to join Highway 7
3	E264	Jõhvi – Tartu – Valga	219	continues from Valga to Riga as Latvian A3
4	E67	Tallinn – Pärnu – Ikla	193	expressway for 14 km out of Tallinn continues from Ikla to Riga as Latvian A1
5		Pärnu – Rakvere – Sõmeru	184	from Pärnu via Paide to join Highway 1 near Rakvere
6		Valga – Uulu	125	from Pärnu via Kilingi-Nõmme to Valga
7	E77	Riga – Pskov	22	short section in southeast Estonia via Misso, continues as Russian A212 and Latvian A2
8	E265	Tallinn – Paldiski	47	via Keila, Keila-Paldiski section is part of E 265, which continues on ferry to Kapellskär
9		Ääsmäe – Haapsalu – Rohuküla	81	ferry connection from Rohuküla to Hiiumaa
10		Risti – Virtsu – Kuivastu – Kuressaare	144	ferry between Virtsu and Kuivastu (Muhumaa)
11	E265	Tallinn ring road	38
92		Tartu – Viljandi – Kilingi-Nõmme	123

Railways

Main article: Rail transport in Estonia

• total: 900 km common carrier lines only (1200 km including dedicated industrial lines)
• broad gauge: 900 km 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ⁵⁄₆ in) or 1,524 mm (5 ft)  gauge (133 km electrified)

Railway links with adjacent countries

• Latvia – yes – same 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ⁵⁄₆ in) gauge
• Russia – yes – same 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ⁵⁄₆ in) gauge

Light rail

See also: Public transport in Tallinn

There has been a growing tram network in Tallinn, Estonia since 1888, when traffic was started by horse-powered trams. The first line was electrified on October 28, 1925. The first electric trams were built by Dvigatel, Ltd., in Tallinn before World War II and for some years after that, the last one in 1954. In the 1920s and 1930s gas-powered trams were also used. Since 1955 to 1988 German-built trams were used. In total, there were 20 LOWA T54-B54 trams (in use from February 1955 to March 1977), 11 Gotha T57-B57 (in use from January 1958 to June 1978), 5 Gotha T59E-B59E (in use from June 1960 to February 1980), 14 Gotha T2-62 and B2-62 (in use from 1962 to 1981) and 50 Gotha G4 trams (in use from January 1965 to October 1988) trams. The first Czechoslovakian-built ČKD Tatra T4SU arrived in 1973. The T4SU trams were in use from May 1973 to September 2005 and there were 60 of them. The first KT4SU arrived in Tallinn in 1981 and was first in use on March 10, 1981. In 2007, there are 56 KT4SU, 12 KTNF6 (rebuilt KT4SUs, 10 local, one from Gera and one from Erfurt) and 23 KT4D (12 from Gera, 6 from Cottbus, 1 from Frankfurt (Oder) and 5 from Erfurt) in use. As of 2007, there are four lines: 1 (Kopli-Kadriorg), 2 (Kopli-Ülemiste), 3 (Tondi-Kadriorg) and 4 (Tondi-Ülemiste). There have also been lines 5 (Kopli-Vana-Lõuna, shut down in 2004 because of small usage) and 6 (Kopli-Tondi, temporarily used in time of repairs). In the future, approximately 2010, there is going to be a light rail line from one of the suburbs, Lasnamäe, to the city center.

Ports and harbours

Estonia has 45 ports in the State Port Register, with a few exceptions all of them in the Baltic Sea.

Largest ports are Muuga (near Tallinn), Tallinn (comprises several ports), Paldiski, Kunda, Pärnu and Sillamäe.

Merchant marine

• total: 50 ships (with a volume of 1,000 gross register tons (GRT) or over) totaling 306,264 GRT/293,083 metric tons deadweight (DWT)
• ships by type: (1999 est.)
  • bulk carrier 3
  • cargo ship 20
  • combination bulk 1
  • container ship 5
  • petroleum tanker 2
  • roll-on/roll-off ship 13
  • short-sea passenger 6

Airports

Airports – with paved runways

• total: 12 (2007)
• over 3,047 m: 1
• 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7
• 914 to 1,523 m: 3

Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport is the largest airport in Estonia.

Pipelines

• natural gas 859 km (2007)

Waterways

• 320 km perennially navigable

See also

• Estonia
• M/S Estonia