The ‘Rail Baltica’ railway project will boost safety in the Baltic States and Finland, said Katrīna Trautmane, coordinator of the TEN-T North Sea-Baltic core network corridor of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport on Tuesday (EC ) at the “Rail Baltica” Industry Day.
“Rail Baltica is a unique cross-border corridor between the Baltic states and Finland. The project is very important and currently the support for it is greater than ever,” Trautmane stressed.
He explained that before the war started by Russia in Ukraine, “Rail Baltica” was economically and environmentally important. It was expected to shift traffic from cars to railways, reducing congestion and reducing the carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint. Similarly, “Rail Baltica” was intended to connect the Baltic states with Finland and the rest of Europe in order to encourage travelers to use the railway.
“Currently, the situation has changed and it is visible. The Baltic states and Finland must be more connected to Europe to ensure peace and security in these countries. All these countries must also be brought closer to Europe for military reasons”, Trautmane underlined, explaining the possibility of military equipment being moved to Europe by rail, especially now that Finland and Sweden are planning to join NATO.
“We see that there are difficulties in transporting products by rail in Ukraine, because there is a different carriageway than in Europe,” Trautmane said, stressing that the Baltic countries also need to switch to a single European carriageway.
The “Rail Baltica” project involves the construction of a European standard gauge railway line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border, so that the Baltic states can be connected by rail with other European countries. In the Baltic states, the construction of a new 870 km long European gauge (1,435 mm) railway line with a maximum train speed of 240 km/h is planned.
The costs of “Rail Baltica” are expected to reach 5.8 billion euros, including the branch that has been decided to build between Kaunas and Vilnius. Part of the costs will be covered by European Union funds. The railway line “Rail Baltica” is planned to be opened sequentially in stages between 2026 and 2030.
