European Railway Project of the Century: Rail Baltica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yANCon-3vI
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Today, we talk about the European Project of the Century - the so-called Rail Baltica.
The main idea behind Rail Baltica is to develop high-quality connections for passenger and freight railway transport between the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and Poland, in the south. But also, it should integrate the Baltic and the Nordic countries, particularly Finland, in the north.
This project represents a symbolic return of the Baltic States to Europe bearing in mind that prior to World War II the Baltic States were connected to Europe with a standard 1435 mm gauge railway. Bearing in mind the present situation with the war in Ukraine and the complete demarcation with Russia, this project gained another perspective and an additional boost of importance.
The idea of Rail Baltica first appeared in 1994 in the joint political document “Vision and Strategies around the Baltic Sea 2010”, as an important element for spatial development in the Baltic Sea Region, which aimed to connect Tallinn with Warsaw by a quality railway line.
The EU recognized this as a priority, and after the revision of the TEN-T guidelines, an act was passed, i.e. a Decision amending the community guidelines for the development of the TEN-T. Within this Decision, the Rail Baltica axis Warsaw - Kaunas - Riga - Tallinn was identified as priority project No. 27 at the EU level.
When it is built, Rail Baltica is planned to become a part of the EU TEN-T North Sea – Baltic Core Network Corridor and North Sea-Baltic rail freight corridor, which links Europe’s largest ports of Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp – through the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Poland – with the three Baltic States, further connecting to Finland, via the Gulf of Finland short sea shipping connections, with a future fixed link possibility between Tallinn and Helsinki.
