EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Railways, Transport

The Estonian Ministry of Public Administration yesterday approved the spatial plan for the Rail Baltica railway in Estonia, leading to setting of the final route and preliminary design of the railway in the country.

The spatial planning for the entire line was approved in Latvia by the decision of the Latvian government in August, 2016, followed by approval of the Lithuanian government in January, 2017, for their respective section from Kaunas to the Lithuanian-Latvian border in Lithuania. The route for the section Kaunas- Lithuania/Poland border is subject to the results of the upgrade feasibility study.

"In the light of Estonia's decision, the spatial territorial planning and preliminary technical design of the Rail Baltica railway in the Baltic states has been finalized," said Baiba Rubesa, CEO of RB Rail.

The best suitable option for the final route in Estonia was publicly debated in all counties crossed by the new railway - Harjumaa, Raplamaa and Parnumaa. During the planning process of the Rail Baltica railway section in Estonia, opinions of NGOs and local inhabitants of counties were taken into account where possible, holding 86 public discussions. In total, discussions regarding the route gathered 4,214 participants and interested parties.

"The spatial planning and preliminary technical design are the fundamental activities of the planning stage of the implementation of the Rail Baltica Global project. Now we have fully completed the planning stage of Rail Baltica. The next step is to focus on the consolidated preliminary technical design and detailed technical design of the Rail Baltica infrastructure in all three countries" said Rubesa.

RB Rail is a joint venture established by the three Baltic countries in October 2014. Its shares are owned equally by Estonia's RB Rail, Latvia's Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas and Lithuania's Rail Baltica Statyba. RB Rail is the central coordinator for the Rail Baltic project for the construction of a European-gauge high speed rail line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border.