The Baltic States and Finland currently use the so-called Russian railway gauge of 1520 mm (in Finland 1524). In Europe, the most common rail gauge recommended by the European Commission is the European or standard gauge of 1435 mm.
Director of the Transport and Investment Development Department of the Ministry of Economy, Andriks Gilans, speaking on Vikerraradio “Uudis+” on Wednesday, said that behind the commission’s proposal lies the goal of isolating Russia and Belarus from and annexing Ukraine and Moldova. for the European Transport Network (TEN-T).
Ceylan said that discussions with the commission will begin this fall and work will begin on developing Estonia’s position on this issue. But before that, Estonia must also discuss it with neighboring countries Latvia and Lithuania.
“We have to discuss this with Latvia and Lithuania, because it would not be good to develop a 1435 mm railway in Estonia alone,” he said.
Finnish Transport and Communications Minister Timo Harakka announced on Tuesday that the European Commission’s proposal to switch to the European scale is “unreasonable” and that Finland should maintain the current track width.
According to Ceylan, the commission’s proposal will not affect railway projects already planned in Estonia, such as the electrification and repair of the Tallinn-Tartu railway and the construction of the Haapsalu railway.
“We are still moving forward with procurement of trains and electricity and increasing speed,” said a ministry official. “Regarding the Haapsalu railway, we will definitely have to discuss these editorial proposals with the commission. There are some inconsistencies in the design, as we cannot be sure at the moment whether we can continue to build the Haapsalu railway in this way. “
He added that there can be no talk of abandoning the Häapsalu railway project, as the decision of the Estonian government was to withdraw EU funding from Turba-Risti, a certain part of it. “As far as I know, the planning is still going on whether the individual departments will be built, what will continue and how soon the governments will come to work,” he said. “[The project] not commented.”
According to Gillan, the transition to the European standard scale means higher railway construction costs, which include higher quality control systems and a faster railway line.
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