Helsinki to Tallinn Tunnel

The Helsinki to Tallinn Tunnel is a proposed rail undersea tunnel that would span the Gulf of Finland and connect the Finnish and Estonian capitals while bypassing Russia. The tunnel's length would depend upon the route taken; the shortest distance across would have a submarine length of 50 km, making it the longest undersea tunnel in the world. The tunnel could open after 2030 by earliest and would cost an estimated €9–13 billion. The European Union has approved €3.1 million in funding for the feasibility studies

Helsinki and Tallinn are separated by the Gulf of Finland, the distance between the cities being around 80 kilometres. Travel between the capitals is currently done mainly by ferries and fast passenger boats, travel time varying from 1 hour 40 minutes (fast summer ferries operating from April to October) to two and a half hours (normal ferries operating around the year). Some eight million trips are done on the ferries each year, including both leisure cruises and commuter scheduled service. Overland travel between Helsinki and Tallinn requires an 800 kilometre journey through Russia.

Both cities have promised €100,000 for preparatory studies, though the relevant ministries of each country have refused to grant any funding. An application is now planned to the EU to gain the additional funds needed for a comprehensive survey, estimated to cost between €500,000 and €800,000. On 13 January 2009, newspaper reports suggested the application to the EU, through the Interreg programme, for comprehensive surveys had been denied. An expert at the City of Helsinki's International Affairs department suggested this may have been because of political tension within Estonia, between the national administration and the City of Tallinn, both controlled by rival political groups. Nevertheless, both cities are said to be considering funding the surveys themselves.

On 2 April 2014, it was announced that a €100,000 preparatory survey named TalsinkiFix will assess whether a more comprehensive profitability calculation should be done. The European Union will cover 85 per cent of the survey costs and the cities of Helsinki and Tallinn and the Harju County will pay the rest. This is the first official survey about the tunnel.

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Wikipedia