In the 19th century, the Russian Empire built a vast railway system linking Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia to Moscow’s trade network and sphere of influence. It was also used in the 1940s to forcibly transport tens of thousands of Estonians in cattle cars to those of the Soviet Unionwhere many were forced to work until they died.
Those imperial ties are slowly disappearing as the Russian system is replaced by new, narrower railway lines used throughout the European Union.
One such project is Rail Baltica, a multi-million dollar project that was initially planned as symbol of Estonia’s pro-European future following the collapse of the Soviet Union and its subsequent accession to the EU and NATO in 2004.
Today, Estonian workers They are building the first section of the planned 800-kilometer high-speed railwayfighting frigid sub-zero temperatures.
However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has meant that the railway has taken on a new and crucial role. If a war breaks out between Moscow and NATO, it will be used to quickly transport troops and equipment from the heart of Europe to the Russian border.
Priit Pruul, head of communications for the project, told the British newspaper: “Rail Baltica will be the transportation backbone of NATO (…). Could reduce the transportation time of military machinery and equipment from a week to 24 hours. Without it, logistics would be much more difficult, much more complex.”
Anvar Salomets, CEO of Rail Baltica Estonia, adds: “The Russian empire gave us the railroad and an economic corridorbut . Nobody can stand what is happening in Ukraine and that is why the mentality has quickly shifted towards the EU.
In addition to EU funds and supplies from Spain and Austria, the rails will be built with british steelwhile the futuristic railway terminal in Tallinn (capital of Estonia) was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in London.
The possibility of extend the route further north, to Helsinki, via a Channel Tunnel-style service, and the possibility of establishing a sleeper train service from Tallinn to Berlin.
The context
The three Baltic states closed their borders with Russia and Belarus after the 2022 invasionalthough the imperial railway remains the local means of transport. In Estonia, the Government advises against all travel across the Russian border.
It has also been considered important to phase out the Russian-style network, which uses gauges of 1,520 mm instead of the EU standard of 1,435due to the fact that the former network would improve Russia’s ability to transport its own troops and supplies to deeper areas of Europe if an invasion were to occur.
Svet notes: “It is three and a half centimeters that divide us from the rest of Europe. For us it is not just a symbol, it is strategic. If we look at how war is fought today in the 21st century (it’s crazy to talk about it, but we have to talk about it for Ukraine), “We can see that the front lines are determined by the railway networks.”.
“When you have the railroad, you have the supply. Where you have the supply, you can plan both defense and attack. “I don’t remember which general said it, but battles are won with infantry and wars are won with logistics.”
