Rail Baltica

Rail Baltica is one of the priority projects of the European Union: Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). The project is supposed to link Finland, the Baltic States and Poland and also improve the connection between Central and Northern Europe. It envisages a continuous rail link from Tallinn (Estonia), to Warsaw (Poland), going 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. The building of the railway is planned to start in 2020. The route Tallinn–Riga–Kaunas is planned to be finished in 2025 and the connection with Warsaw in 2030. There is also a plan to extend the route to Venice (Italy).

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).