17.12.2025
Estonia has given environmental approval to the southernmost section of the Rail Baltica railway route, which will allow construction to begin on this part of the high-speed railway next year.
The Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA) has decided last week to approve the environmental impact assessment report for the Rail Baltica Kabli-Estonia-Latvia border section. The decision means that eight out of nine environmental impact assessment reports for the Rail Baltica Estonian route have now received a positive assessment, bringing the project significantly closer to opening to train traffic in 2030.
Environmentally sensitive section of the Baltic Sea coast
The approved section runs in Häädemeeste rural municipality, Pärnu county, starting near the Kabli River and ending in the village of Ikla on the Estonian-Latvian border. This is an area where the railway passes through coastal landscapes, forests and wetlands, making it one of the most environmentally sensitive parts of the entire Estonian route.
The environmental impact assessment was carried out by the consultancy Estonian, Latvian & Lithuanian Environment (ELLE). The report concludes that the construction and subsequent operation of the railway is possible without significant long-term damage to protected habitats – provided that the prescribed mitigation measures are implemented. These include, among others, the construction of animal passages, careful regulation of the water regime and construction solutions that minimize disturbance during both the construction and operational phases.
The assessment also analysed the potential transboundary environmental impact and the impact on areas within the Natura 2000 network. According to the conclusions, potential negative impacts can be avoided through carefully designed technical and organisational solutions.
Balancing infrastructure and nature conservation
The TTJA's decision is based on a thorough analysis. The purpose of the environmental impact assessment is not to automatically give the green light to projects or to stop them in principle. It is important to assess whether the risks have been sufficiently studied and whether there are clear and workable solutions to mitigate them.
"The positive decision confirms that the solutions developed during the environmental impact assessment are sufficiently strong and allow the project to move forward responsibly," said Kärt Mae, Head of Sustainability at Rail Baltic Estonia.
This was not just a formal procedure.
“The focus was not just on compliance, but on how the railway actually interacts with the surrounding ecosystems,” Mae added. “Ecoducts, water protection and maintaining the green network are key to maintaining the coherence of the landscape even after the railway is completed.”
When completed, Rail Baltica will significantly transform passenger and freight transport in the Baltic States, offering a fast and low-emission alternative to road and air transport. Train speeds will reach up to 249 kilometers per hour, significantly shortening travel times between Baltic cities and Central Europe.
In addition to its economic and environmental impact, Rail Baltica also has broader strategic significance, improving the resilience of the European transport network and strengthening the region's connectivity and security.
As eight of the nine sections of the Rail Baltica main route have now received environmental approval in Estonia, the project is technically on schedule, allowing train traffic between Tallinn and Warsaw to open in 2030.
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