Priority Project 27

 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

“Rail Baltica” is a strategic and sustainable rail project linking four new EU Member States of the EU - Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - as well as Finland. In addition, it is the only rail connection between the three Baltic States themselves to Poland and the rest of the EU. To the north, Helsinki is connected by rail ferry services across the Gulf of Finland which can form a “bridge” to the countries of the Nordic Triangle (PP12). The length of the current track is approximately 1,200 km by the most direct existing route from Tallinn to Warsaw. A variety of track and operating systems are currently in use: single and double track, electrified and nonelectrified (of which single track non-electrified is the most common system). The line passes through a variety of different terrain - urban areas such as the cities of Białystok, Kaunas and Riga, and rural areas such as in the Podlaskie region of northeast Poland and southern Lithuania, as well as northern Latvia and the south of Estonia. “Rail Baltica” also connects three major Baltic seaports: Helsinki, Tallinn and Riga and has a short rail connection to a fourth - Klaipeda.

Mr Pavel Telička has served as European Coordinator for this Priority Project since July 2005.