Rail Baltica

Rail Baltica
Map of Rail Baltica: The solid line represents the direct option involving a new privately-owned standard gauge railway; the dashed line is a longer route and state-owned Russian gauge which would also connect Tartu and Vilnius. (Country and city names are in Latvian)
Overview
Type	Corporate-owned higher-speed railway
System	Rail Baltica
Locale	Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
Termini	Mockai Tallinn International Airport (passenger), Muuga (freight)
Services	Mockai – Kaunas – Riga – Pärnu – Tallinn
Technical
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge (primary) 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) broad gauge
Loading gauge	SE-C
Electrification	3 kV DC overhead
Operating speed	Up to 120 mph (200 km/h)

Rail Baltica (also known as Rail Baltic) is a project to link Finland, the Baltic States and Poland with a standard gauge rail line, providing passenger and freight service between the countries and improving rail connections between Central and Northern Europe. It envisages a continuous rail link from Tallinn (Estonia), to Warsaw (Poland), via Riga (Latvia) and Kaunas (Lithuania). It will bypass the Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia) and Hrodna (Belarus), which have historically hosted two Poland–Lithuania rail routes. Rail Baltica is one of the priority projects of the European Union: Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T).

The first phase, known as Rail Baltica I, extends from the Poland-Lithuania border to Kaunas. It was inaugurated on October 16, 2015. Construction of Rail Baltica II, the second phase connecting Kaunas, Riga, and Tallinn, is planned to start construction in 2019. The Tallinn–Riga–Kaunas standard-gauge route is planned to be finished in 2025, and the connection to Warsaw in 2030.

The section from Helsinki to Tallinn will be operated by existing commercial ferries. In the future a proposed Helsinki to Tallinn Tunnel could provide a rail link between the two cities. The length of the railway between Tallinn and Warsaw will be at least 950 kilometres (590 mi).

The first phase, known as Rail Baltica I, extends from the Poland-Lithuania border to Kaunas. It was inaugurated on October 16, 2015. The project, which built standard-gauge tracks alongside the existing Russian gauge tracks, cost €380m. The 119 km line accommodates diesel trains, with passenger trains running at up to 120 km/h and freight trains at up to 80 km/h. Higher speeds will depend on future electrification and a new signal system. In June 2016, Lithuanian Railways and Przewozy Regionalne started weekend passenger train service between Kaunas and Białystok.