01.02.2024
At the end of December last year, the first meeting of the Rail Baltic Estonia youth community took place, the aim of which was to bring together inspiring young people who support the international railway project and whose heartfelt desire is to contribute to the creation of a fast, convenient, environmentally friendly and safe transport connection with Europe. Among others, a 16-year-old transport enthusiast joined the Rail Baltica youth community Aaron Storm Peebo.
Peebo's range of knowledge in the field of transport is surprisingly wide and would be a boon to many young people studying railway construction, because in addition to his in-depth knowledge of Tallinn's urban transport, Peebo can also talk at length about international and technical nuances related to railways, and in the right terms. According to him, he also predicted the construction of a new tram line. When asked where the young man got the transport bug, Peebo simply answers: "I think I was born with it. My grandmother always said it could be in my blood."
Train travel as therapy
While an ordinary person travels from point A to point B, never noticing what happens in between, Peebo is always thinking about transportation. According to the young man, it is kind of therapeutic to watch the movement of trains and other means of transportation. “For me, riding a train is an experience where you don’t have to think, you can delve into your own topics, read a book, be yourself,” says Peebo.
Peebo's family has a tradition of occasionally visiting family friends in Austria, where they have of course also taken regional trains. The young man's dream is to try out ÖBB's new Nightjet night trains. "I would be very happy if someone would bring Nightjets to the market for us in the future, especially the newer version with larger seating areas, capsule cabins and other amenities," Peebo notes.
Today, Peebo is in the 10th grade of the Gustav Adolf Gymnasium, studying humanities, and although one might assume that his keen interest in transportation would also benefit the young man when studying science, according to him, this is not the case. “I am a humanitarian through and through, I study in a language class, but I believe that knowing French will definitely be useful to me in the future,” the young man states, adding that if he were to acquire a railway-related education in the future, his dream would be to work for the French railway company SNCF Voyageurs.
Rail Baltica ambassador in a class of his own
Peebo's family and school support his endeavors and dreams every step of the way, including his interest in the Rail Baltica project. "My classmates often expect answers from me, so I've been given a responsibility at school that if someone wants to know something, I have to know it. And that's where my factual knowledge comes into play, because I have to search and research myself," Peebo laughs.
The young man's great desire is to contribute his knowledge and hopefully future skills to the development of the Rail Baltica railway project at the right time, which he is impatiently awaiting for its completion. "My classmates and I don't discuss transport issues much, but when I said I was going to give an interview at the Rail Baltic Estonia office, they practically applauded," says Peebo, admitting that his classmates are very supportive of the Rail Baltica project.
Despite the disruptions during construction, he encourages people to look to the future. "It's the same as the construction work on the streets of Tallinn - today it gets on everyone's nerves and disrupts life to some extent, but we all want good roads. Time goes by quickly and in a moment all these disruptions are forgotten," says Peebo.
The young man also believes that today we shouldn't worry too much about the profitability of a project. "For example, let's look at the major Japanese Shinkansen project, where improving transport connections boosted the Japanese economy by leaps and bounds. This project cost many times more than Rail Baltica and has paid off in every way," the young man explains.
If Peebo had to choose the most beautiful passenger terminal among the three Baltic countries, his choice would definitely be the Ülemiste joint terminal Linda. According to the young man, Linda's architectural solution is on the one hand grand and on the other hand gives a homely feeling. "Although Riga will probably start to get on and off the train more people than ever in Estonia combined, it will still remain a so-called intermediate stop. It is much more proud to be on the nose of the train "Warsaw-Tallinn", i.e. the final stop, or rather the beginning of the journey," notes Peebo.
Peebo has his own expectations for the Rail Baltica youth community. According to the young man, the community is still quite small today, but in the long run, something similar to the Tallinn City Youth Council could emerge from it. “In my opinion, Rail Baltica could also have a so-called democratic representation elected from a larger group, which would have its own guardian and through which ideas would turn into recommendations, then decisions and finally arrive here, on your table,” says Peebo.
According to Peebo, the dimension of the youth community does not have to be limited to the Estonian border, but could also be useful in exchanging ideas and thoughts and growing a cooperation network across the Baltics. “Helping each other progress in this project and journey is the goal of this undertaking for me,” he says.
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