The story of the railway connecting the Baltic States with each other and with Europe at large dates back to a time when Estonia had received its money just a few years earlier and the desire to prove itself as a full-fledged part of the European cultural and economic space was increasingly evident.
Already in 1994, the vision document “Vision and strategies around the Baltic Sea 2010” described the need to connect Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania more closely to Europe. In 1995, the vision document “National Plan ESTONIA 2010”, prepared at the request of the Government of the Republic, stated, among other things, the following: “The key issue in passenger transport is the construction of high-speed railways… it can be assumed that if we want EU assistance in developing transport and its infrastructure, we must start to take into account the sustainability-oriented transport policy principles of the European Union more than before, especially the preference for rail transport over road transport and the preference for trains and buses over passenger cars in passenger transport.”
Estonia's vision for the future therefore saw the need to reconnect us with the rest of Europe more than 20 years ago. In 2004, Estonia was admitted to the European Union, and at the same time, decisions affecting rail transport were also formulated at the European level. The European Commission decision from that time states that the rail transport of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania must be gradually integrated into the wider EU rail transport system. The main prerequisite for the connection was and still is the connection of the broad-gauge railway common in Estonia with the narrower gauge common elsewhere in Europe.
Work begins
The European Commission funded a study commissioned by the Baltic States and conducted by the Danish consultancy COWI A/S in 2005-2006 on various technical alternatives for the Rail Baltica railway. The aim of the study was to assess the need for a new railway connection and to provide recommendations on the location of the route, technical standards and other requirements.
The beginning of more concrete cooperation in the Rail Baltica project can be considered the protocol of joint intentions signed in Brussels in March 2006 by Pavel Telicka, the RB European coordinator, and the ministers of the countries participating in the project (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland).
Representatives of the transport ministries of Finland, Poland and the three Baltic states reaffirmed their common intentions in 2010, when a joint memorandum was signed on the further development of Rail Baltica, emphasizing the need to complete a feasibility study for a railway based on the EU 1435 mm standard. The British consultancy firm AECOM won the public procurement contract to conduct the study.
The study conducted by AECOM was completed in May 2011 and discussed by the Cabinet in September of the same year. The completed study analyzed four possible routes through all three Baltic states – two of them passed through Tartu in Estonia and two through Pärnu. The study revealed that building a railway through Pärnu would be more environmentally friendly and environmentally sustainable, and would also mean lower costs compared to the longer route through Tartu. Thus, the Prime Ministers of the Baltic States approved the results of the AECOM study in their joint statement in 2011 and also agreed on further activities regarding the development of Rail Baltic.
The birth of Rail Baltic Estonia
In 2014 An Estonian holding company, Rail Baltic Estonia OÜ, was established to coordinate the Rail Baltica project, through which it would be possible to acquire a 1/3 stake in the Rail Baltica international joint venture. On October 28, 2014, the founding documents of the Rail Baltica joint venture, RB Rail AS, were signed by representatives of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
2015 In July, the European Union member states unanimously approved the European Commission's transport infrastructure support package with a total amount of 11,93 billion euros, as part of which support was also allocated to the Rail Baltica project.
November 2015 According to the CEF I financing agreement signed in 2018, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and a joint venture with the participation of the three countries received a total of 540 million euros for the implementation of the first phase of the Rail Baltica project – almost 82% of which was allocated from the CEF. Estonia's share of this is over 175 million euros. The support is specifically intended for the development of Rail Baltica in the direction Tallinn-Pärnu-Riga-Panevežys-Kaunas-Lithuanian/Polish border.
2016 At the end of September, the Rail Baltica guidelines, contracts, division of labor – procurement and obligations agreement (Contracting Scheme) was signed between all parties (Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian ministries and project developers-companies and the joint venture RB Rail AS). On November 15 of the same year, the CEF II financing agreement was signed – of this, the Estonian part of the Rail Baltica project activities, together with Estonia's own contribution, is approximately 13 million euros.
In 2016 As part of the Rail Baltica project, construction of a tram line between Ülemiste Passenger Terminal and Tallinn Airport began, which will be completed in August 2017.
January 31, 2017 The prime ministers of the three Baltic states signed the Rail Baltica intergovernmental agreement, which fixed in a legally binding document the obligations of the states necessary for the establishment of a railway connection with Central Europe through the Baltic states. The agreement is one of the prerequisites for the establishment of the Rail Baltic railway connection. Its aim, among other things, is to increase mutual trust between the participating countries of the Rail Baltic in the establishment of the railway connection. The agreement defined the general technical parameters of Rail Baltic as well as the route and the construction deadline.
Shortly before Midsummer's Day, on June 19, 2017, the Riigikogu ratified the Rail Baltica international agreement with 63 votes in favor, which was also announced by the President of the Republic of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, on June 29.
April 24, 2017, Ernst&Young presented a cost-benefit analysis of the Rail Baltica project. The analysis concluded that the project is primarily beneficial from a societal perspective, as the socio-economic benefits it brings exceed the project costs.
February 13 and 14, 2018, The Minister of Public Administration established the county plans for Harju, Pärnu and Rapla counties necessary for the planning of Rail Baltica.
October 11, 2018, The preliminary design of the Estonian section of Rail Baltica was completed, specifying the work volumes and budget for the Estonian route of the railway connection. The preliminary design estimated the cost of the Estonian route of Rail Baltica at 1,6 billion euros, which is approximately 18 percent more than was estimated in the draft solution prepared in 2015. According to the budget specified in the preliminary design and based on the current assumption that the 85 percent co-financing from the European Union will remain, the self-financing of the Estonian section of the project is estimated to be 318 million euros in total.
March 29, 2019 The first basic design contract for the Estonian section of the Rail Baltica route was signed with the Spanish company IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture. The first to start designing is the 71-kilometer section from the Rapla county border to Tootsin in Pärnu County. The section is planned to include 13 road viaducts, nine railway viaducts, nine ecoducts and four railway bridges. The amount of the signed contract excluding VAT is 6,8 million euros.
November 28, 2019 The cornerstone of the first object of the Rail Baltica main route, the Saustinõmme viaduct, was laid, marking the start of the construction of the Rail Baltica high-speed rail connection. The construction of Rail Baltica was launched by Prime Minister Jüri Ratas and Director General of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Transport, Henrik Hololei.
