Rail Baltica construction focuses on Tallinn-Pärnu section

Rail Baltic Estonia is focusing on building the Tallinn-Pärnu section, with its main construction work expected to near completion by the end of 2030, ERR reported. The section is planned to enter service by the end of 2032, while the full Estonian part of the railway is due to be completed by the end of 2034.

Under the revised schedule, construction from Pärnu to the Estonian-Latvian border is also expected to begin by the end of 2030. The first test runs are planned for the same period, initially on the Ülemiste-Tootsi section. Rail Baltic Estonia board chairman Anvar Salomets said testing would check that the different parts of the railway work together safely.

Preparatory work, including building the layers on which the railway will be laid, accounts for close to half of the project’s funding, according to Rail Baltic Estonia board member Lauri Ulm. He said an embankment costs about seven to eight million euros per kilometre. With total construction costs of 3.5 billion euros for 200 kilometres, the remaining costs cover the track, technical equipment, traffic management and electrification.

A large share of the funding is expected to come from the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. Agreements on the EU’s next budget are still being negotiated, but Salomets and Ulm said they expected the funding to be secured. Ulm said changes to priorities, deadlines or funding under future governments could affect the final completion date, but he did not expect the project to be stopped.

The government has said that postponing Rail Baltica’s completion will allow Estonia to use about 660 million euros more from the EU’s next budget period for construction than under the previous schedule.