Salomets says Rail Baltic delay will do little to freight business
Thursday 5th November 2026 on 22:15 in
Estonia
A delay of a couple of years to Rail Baltic is unlikely to make a major difference to freight operators, Rail Baltic Estonia chairman Anvar Salomets told ERR. The Estonian section is now expected to be completed and opened for use by the end of 2034.
Salomets attributed the repeated postponements to several factors, chiefly poor management and expectations that exceeded the project’s capabilities. The government has dropped its plan to complete the Estonian section by 2030. The railway was initially expected to begin operating this Christmas.
The projected cost of the Estonian section has risen from one billion euros to 3.5 billion euros. Salomets said the current figure does not include future inflation. He cited changes in the project’s scope and price increases following various crises in Estonia, which amounted to tens of per cent over a three- to four-year period.
The current target is for a train to leave for Berlin at the end of 2034. Salomets said Rail Baltic Estonia’s owner expects the railway to be both complete and in use by then. The line is expected to be finished before it is tested and formally opened. The Tallinn–Pärnu section could be ready for passenger trains by the end of 2032, if funding is available.
Salomets said the shift from 2030 to 2032 would make little difference to freight in the long term. Goods are currently transported by road, and forecasts assume that some will move to rail once it has a competitive advantage. The new infrastructure is also expected to generate additional freight traffic.
A cost-benefit analysis puts Rail Baltic Estonia’s annual fixed costs at 30 million to 50 million euros, depending mainly on how major maintenance costs are spread over time. The analysis indicates that revenue could cover those costs by the end of the railway’s first decade.
The government has said that taking five years longer to build Rail Baltic would reduce the cost to Estonian taxpayers. Salomets said the funding plan is based on the European Union’s 2028–2034 financial period; extending the deadline would allow Estonia to secure more EU funding and reduce its own contribution.