Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Investments, Railways, Transport

In some way, the Tallinn-Helsinki twin city already exists based on the annually increasing ferry traffic between the two cities, Narinen said at a presentation of the tunnel project in Tallinn on Thursday. She said that the increasing traffic between the cities indicates a strong contact between the cities, as approximately 12 million people moved between the two cities last year.

Finland is like an island and as Finland - like Estonia, too - is dependent on foreign trade, then a fixed connection for trade would be necessary, he said. According to Narinen, when it comes to a private sector project, the participation of countries in the development of it is also very important as the project raises multiple environmental issues.

Peter Vesterbacka, former business development chief at the Angry Birds developer Rovio, is planning to complete the Tallinn-Helsinki undersea tunnel by Dec. 24, 2024. Vesterbacka said that the Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel is in no way dependent on the Rail Baltic project, but the establishment of the railway would mean the connection of Helsinki with Europe. Vesterbacka did however criticize the Rail Baltic project by saying that the project is not ambitious enough and the planned railway connection is a lot slower than the real technological capability.

He added that the construction of the tunnel should take five years but possible delays must be taken into account when setting a deadline. Vesterbacka said that the construction of the tunnel will cost 15 billion euros and the project will pay off in 37 years. He added that the tunnel must be built future-proof so that it could be conveniently updated as technology develops.

Vesterbacka has also previously said that 70% of the necessary money would be raised from Chinese investors and the rest from local pension funds and investors.

The first of the four stops on the tunnel's path would be in Tallinn, the second 15 kilometers from Helsinki, the third near the Aalto University campus at Otaniemi, and the fourth at Helsinki airport. Vesterbacka said that the trip from Tallinn to Helsinki airport should take 20-25 minutes in the future.

According to the plans laid out by Vesterbacka, trains would be moving in the tunnel at speeds of 350-400 kilometers per hour. He said that this is not a big challenge technically, but the tunnel could be built in record time.

Vesterbacka's project is completely separate from the national plans of Finland and Estonia. The preliminary EU analysis concerning the Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel planned by the state should be completed in February and possible construction could start in the 2030s.