@@jamieusman😅 These three countries have populations of less than 10 million. Surely you can return your investment. This investment looks worse than Chinese infrastructure investmentlosses continue to be operational costs .
@@jamieusman😅 These three countries have populations of less than 10 million. Surely you can return your investment. This investment looks worse than Chinese infrastructure investmentlosses continue to be operational costs .
Man, as a Scandinavian, I so want to see the Baltics succeed in every way possible. Scandinavia was one of the first to recognise their independence and we definitely want to them to be better connected to us.
@@grambo4436 Maybe when there'll be a tunnel from Estonia or Latvia to Sweden. Or no. Even Finland is kinda on the outskirts. (Finland is Nordic but not rly a Scandinavian country)
@@ratyjoona I too was thinking of a high speed tunnel to Finland... Listening, I was expecting to hear of a direct link from the northern terminals, say a high speed passenger ferry from Tallinn or a slower passenger/freight ferry from Muuga across to Finland.
Don't forget that this isn’t just infrastructural mega project but also one of immense strategic importance, completely new and independent rail system in the Baltics as it is 1435 gauge, and polish part of it as the whole line from Warsaw to PL-LT border is being upgraded at the same time to integrate it.
It's about connecting with Finland by land. You can forget about military goals, strategically this line is too vulnerable, so no one will keep serious troops there. unless the strategy is to make it easier to get people out of the Baltics, but I doubt that either haha
As a Latvian myself, this is the most information I've heard about this project till now. Didn't know there are so many bridges to be built, also I hadn't heard that there will be 2 story bridge, mostly only stuff around the bridge in Riga center and the station itself. Really nice and informative video as always, didn't expect to see one about this project as i didn't fully understand the importance it has on Europe as whole.
Will also be good for us. then we can visit tallin by train without changing - or at least our freight trains. ;) TEN-T is by far the best what EU has given to us - althrough nobody knows it. ^^
@@PROVOCATEURSK I know I know. but DB is heavily investin right now and well... we have a really massive, internationally connected railway system to begin with... It could be worse, it could be better. I for my part wouldn't want to manage all of that either
Watch how it surpass the 20billion. I’m living closely from Stuttgart and oh god they finished the tunnels rn and finsihed the white piles (idk how to call them) when it truly will be finished no one knows
From the Netherlands, I wish ALL you Baltics the best. Warm energy to you all. We have a gorgeous continent. With wonderful different nations, all sharing common values. I wish this project success
Really? Are you sure that open family scandinavian values acceptable for Italians or Spanish? :) For examle. Or Baltic nazi values acceptable for French?
Holy smokes! As a Canadian I thought that project would cost 150-200B USD! We have a 16 KM Skytrain (subway, not high speed train) expansion project going here in Metro Vancouver which is gonna cost 3B! 8B for 870 KMs for a high speed line is mere pennies! Kudos!
"We have a 16 KM Skytrain (subway, not high speed train) expansion project going here in Metro Vancouver which is gonna cost 3B!" But presumably that'll either be underground (=more expensive construction) or take up space in dense urban area (=more expensive land). Rail Baltica won't need much (if any) tunnelling and most of it won't be inside cities were land is expensive (though obviously some of it has to be).
@@Jerdifier OK, but then it's still going to take some very expensive land which probably adds to the cost. I guess you can probably have e.g. roads going under the elevated tracks so it doesn't consume as much valuable land as it's width would seem to indicate but it's still probably a significant factor.
Disney has spent nearly $30 billion on Disney+, and hasn't yet turned a profit. So the fact that the EU can build a massive, modern rail network spanning three different countries for less than $10 billion is impressive.
@@algijura Even if it doubles or triples, it still costs less to built a useful piece of long-lasting infrastructure than it costs Disney to buy some mid-tier virtual media.
Incredible the level of ambition and foresight by other European nations, highlights the pathetic nature of infrastructure of the UK. Impressive, very best of luck to the Baltic Nations!
@@ZepyhrLight We need to elect leaders who recognize the benefits of high speed rail. The good news is California is building two (although one is over budget and way behind schedule, but still).
Great to see B1M mentioning the same project (Ülemiste joint terminal) I'm working on, even if my role as a structural engineer is just a small part of it!
An underground rail link from Estonia to Finland would be a great extension to this new line. The site in Denmark for the Denmatk - Sweden tunnel could just keep churning out segments and they could be towed across the Baltic or the casting equipment could be moved to a closer location.
There was a study on that tunnel between Tallinn and Helsinki in the 2010s and the price then was 16BN EUR, right now it is at least 20BN, it is too expensive and complex for the number of people living in the Baltics (less than 7m, in Tallinn 500K) and Finland (less than 6ml, in Helsinki 700K). Perhaps, in the future, it will be built
As a Croatian, knowing how much better starting position we had in the 90's, even with the war, I can only bang my head into the wall when I see the state of our railway network and the immense progress the Baltic states made in that (and every other) sector. This is the main difference between organized countries that have to work and plan in order to achieve something and corrupted shitholes with lazy population that base their entire economy on a hope that the weather will be sunny and that the tourists will swarm the coast, ready to spend their hard earned money on overpriced meals and accomodation. Kudos for all Baltic states, not just for building this, but also for not taking shit from Russians. You are a role model for small nations when it comes to holding your ground in a highly unfavorable geopolitical environment.
As a fellow Croat and regular visitor to Split, I can say that indigenous tourism, built solely on small private initiative of renting apartments and small restaurants is working great, because fortunately we avoided much involvement from state. Unfortunately large foreign interests try now to jump in wagon, pushing real estate price to "money laundering" category. However, if you come to Croatia you will see that quality/price ratio of tourist offering beats most of Europe so even restaurants in centre of Split with inflated prices are full. BTW, I am also upset by dismal state of local railways and complete destruction of local industries and agriculture. If there is no tourism, people without connection to get government job would have no chance but to emigrate
Oh my God, such disappointing words. I thought that Croatia is a heaven for people living there. Such a beautiful nature, clean sea, so many places to visit, hiking, riding a bicycle. I've always dreamt to visit Croatia, but as always in history damn Russians began their actions to destroy planet.
Ist a very flat area with a very low population density. You can just build straight lines and nobody complains about their home being near the tracks. In Addition the wages are still low compared to other European areas.
in the 60’s they thought we would have flying cars as our preferred method of transportation, here in 2024 we’re doubling down on rail networks; don’t change what’s not broken i guess.
Flying cars has the "small" issue that so many people fail to bring up: Crashes. A crash from a car is bad enough, a flying car is far worse. Imagine drunk flying, faulty vihecles and many other issues (not to mention in-air crashes spiralling out of control). On top of this, there's the issue that it just wouldn't be efficient or necessary. It just doesn't make sense even if it were possible, as it just replaces one problem with another, but doesn't really solve issues.
It's really the perfect form of transport, especially in Europe. Im surprised Americans don't harness it more, they need more high speed rail networks cos its such a sprawling country. Your F150 isn't doing 250 clicks
It is too expensive for the number of people connecting, 16BN EUR plus. Maybe in the future, it will be built. Right now ferries are much more feasible
@Hornisse-Me410 It's not planned, it was discussed, and a feasibility study was done, and there are no funds for the building, or planning (doing technical design) of it currently. Finland and Estonia are not going to pay for it, something like 16-20Bn + of EUR, and the EU is not going to provide 85% for it, like they do for Rail Baltica. Maybe after or about 2040.
@@Nauda999 Funny you think so. Even with all the faults and problems EU has this is way too important reputation check to let it slide. It's gonna be fine.
@@matrixfull I agree to that, but there is a significant possibility that EU has no choice to admit that they are in economic crisis, and if they do that then this small railway side project wouldn't even matter on reputation. There is even possibility that EU just ends. It would be enough for just Germany to leave EU for it to end, there are probably other scenarios where EU ends. And just because the consequences would be devastating doesn't mean it can't happen, there are plenty of examples in history.
I love projects like these as they bring Europe closer together and improve everyone's lives! I'm already looking forward to taking the train from my German home city of Duisburg all the way up to the Baltic states!
I remember getting emotional watching on tv the baltic human chain on my teen years in distant PT. This kinda reminds me of those days amidst current aggressions. We need to connect to every edge of Europe, specially by trains.
@@pepevonkek7803 Ask Ukrainians and Georgians and the popular will to join it. You are not against invasions, only specific countries and alliances doing them but not others.
@pepevonkek7803 how can you simp for a country that has had the same "president" for 25 years and then say a different group is bad? How broken is your brain that you simp for dictators?
Going from 6 billion to 8 is surprisingly low. I kinda expected to hear that costs would be double its original estimate. Also, the designs of these train stations are really awesome. Modern, flowing contours, that fit quite neatly in their surroundings of older architecture. Looks like they took some lessons there and not placed something 'modern' there without regard to its buildings around.
I always dread the word ‘modern’ when used in any design context. Building should always be designed to fit in their surroundings, which in the case of Riga at least should be inspired by the 1920s/30s like the rest of the city centre.
The video makes a mistake a bit, 8Bn EUR it is for the Latvian stretch of the rail, in prices in mid-2010 it was roughly 1.5Bn EUR. But anyway, it is a very important project, especially for the Baltics and the economic benefits from that rail are massive. The prices of construction almost doubled in the Baltics and the project itself grew significantly, the regional stations appeared etc.
I live in Estonia and last week official audit came out. It was done by state auditors in all three baltic countries. The cost of this project has risen to 15bn today and they project that total cost will be around 25bn very far from the inital 6bn. EU is not planning to cover the budget overrun so it starting to become a heavy burden to our government's budget. Keeping in mind that Baltic statest invest around 3% GDP to defense ( Estonia 3.4% in 2024) and the goverment budget is under heavy stress and now Rail Baltic cost overruns will make the situation even harder(government budget wise).
I loved visiting Latvia a few years ago. I can highly recommend it, not just Riga, but especially some nice areas outside of it as well. The coast near Kolga, the castles and palaces from the middle ages to the 18th century, the Soviet Secret Bunker.
As a German visiting the Baltic States via public transport just a few weeks ago I can confirm this project is definitely worth the cost. In terms of international travel the Baltic States still have a long way to go. Looking forward to visit the Baltics again once Rail Baltica finally operates.
Recently took a 9 day trip around the Baltic sea from the Netherlands. The rail connection from Riga to Tallinn takes an entire day, when a bus takes about 3 hours. Public transport inside the Baltic countries is amazing, but connectivity between the capitals is not too good. This line is a very welcome addition.
I can't speak for other countries but in Estonia, the other railways are really ok, I think they've all been reconstructed within the last 15 years to handle the Stadler trains that replaced the old Russian ones more than 10 years ago. Rail Baltic doesn't replace any Russian railways, it runs on a completely new corridor, although about 20 years ago there used to be a railway in the same direction, which wasn't used much and was therefore abandoned and demolished.
I mean you have to consider that this will mean a doubling of the speed compared to the current tracks and together with the upgraded connection from Poland to Lithuania the journey times from Central Europe to the Baltics will dramatically decrease. I’m super hyped for this project 🥳
@@TheLikeys Almost doubling, as the lines I've rode on are either 120kmh or 160kmh, but obviously these lines don't go the same direction as Rail Baltica so Rail Baltica is really only comparable with current bus or air connections. Bottom line, the video intro seemed clickbaitishly harsh for the working infrastructure that is up to standards (except the gauge distance) and getting constant upgrades worth millions every year.
@@raunce91 I don’t get why your so “against” this investment into the region. I am not trying to downplaying the current infrastructure - it’s about adding a true high-speed link between the capitals. Also this is huge for trading as the line will be extensively used by freight. And as we’re trying to reduce the dependency on air travel on short hauls, I guess the only ones who’ll be worried a bit is airBaltic..
@@TheLikeys You read what you want to read :) I'm not at all against it, but I'm not overly excited either. We'll see how it will get on. Bus tickets between Tallinn and Kaunas/Vilnius are currently around 20€, we'll see if Rail Baltic will be able to compete. You can get much further than that directly with Ryanair. Expensive but time efficient trains between Tallinn and Tartu are so popular that additional trains are being built, whereas buses are also full every half an hour. In comparison to Rail Baltica route, buses across the Baltics only depart a few times a day and there are always seats available. Most road traffic through the Baltics are trucks, we'll see if they'll get some of their cargo on the rails instead, freeing up the roads a bit. I think AirBaltic can only win from Rail Baltic, since it connects Estonians and Lithuanians to Riga Airport, which has the best connections in the Baltics. If the trains will be comfortable and not too expensive, we might say goodbye to trying and failing to sleep in FlixBus while waiting for the smooth Estonian roads be able to use the lavatory without any spillage.
Meanwhile in Canada we've been talking of high speed rail in the Quebec-Windsor corridor for about 30+ years and there still hasn't been a shovel anywhere near the ground... I lived in Europe for a while and on the transportation aspect I got to say I miss it. I was living in Barcelona and the metro is excellent and the highspeed train network too! I live in Montreal and have family in Quebec and it would be so nice to be able to go see them in 1h or less... (it's about 250km)
Greetings from Rīga. It's interesting to see how all this take a shape from ground perspective. Hope this will boost our post-soviet economies. But sad, that a lot of people hate this project for inconveniences caused by construction works in the city.
Was in Riga right after the liberation, visiting from Denmark. Here everybody HATED the metro, as it took a decade to complete, was obnoxiously noisy, dusty, and incredibly inconvenient! What a nuisance!! But now that it's finished - we'd really not like to have to live without it! I hope you'll feel just the same 🤗 it's an epic project, and seen from abroad it truly seems like something you can all be very proud of! And a very nice thing to stick to the little wannabe czar to our East
Экономические преимущества этого проекта крайне сомнительны. Пассажирские перевозки не будут приносить доход, так как население этих стран крайне малочисленное. С грузовыми перевозками всё еще хуже. Непонятно какие грузы хотят перевозить по этой дороге, и какой объем этих грузов будет? Скорее всего этот проект загонит страны Балтии в долговую яму.
@@seneca983 Я знаю, что строят эту дорогу в основном за счет средств ЕС. Обслуживать эту железную дорогу будет тоже ЕС или страны Балтии? Кто будет нести эксплуатационные расходы, если дорога будет убыточной?
This rail makes trips from Finland to Central Europe much faster, it connects to Poland and Germany via high speed rail networks. Connections every hour to Berlin. Rail transport from Rotterdam to Tallin will give the port of Tallin new opportunities.
Mind you. Either you forced some segments of your population into poverty to fund your state projects, or build up momentum and savings to get it running. It's a reason why democracies are longer-lasting than silly autocracies.
@@FiredAndIced Oh, now the Baltic countries will pay for it with their savings? Here I thought it was other countries in Europe that are forced to pay 90% of the cost for this railway. It's always easy to build things with other peoples money.
@@temper44 no one is forced to pay. it's mostly EU funding......... which all three are part of..... and the project is for the benefit for the whole union.
I was in Tallinn last week and the scale of modern architecture really surprised me - some super nice and well constructed buildings, lots of ameneties - I'd live there.
😅 These three countries have populations of less than 10 million. Surely you can return your investment. This investment looks worse than Chinese infrastructure investmentlosses continue to be operational costs .
I moved to Tallinn 2 years ago and I love the amount of construction and progress in the city. Some of the new development is kinda boring and ugly, but there are awesome projects too, either huge buildings completely made out of wood or combining old traditional look with more modern style. Living here makes me excited about the future.
Bonkers. It's taken forever and a ton of money here in California to just get some track on the ground from LA to SF. I wouldn't doubt if the $6 billion price tag for the Baltic line to balloon to $20 billion. But it looks like it would be a wonderful ride.
Lithuania has a new train line connecting Vilnius true Kaunas to Poland and the train tickets are always sold out, so it is showing the need for this project and perhaps it proves that this project will be successful! Some of the freight train connections in Lithuania were already tested by trains and were celebrated for a new beginning.
Yeah, overall the line is on the surface, mostly goes through rural areas, and thus price tag much lower than the HS2 tunnels extravaganza... Would be a massive win if Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel under Gulf of Finland was added to the scheme!
@@peeterl.2016 Why so pessimistic? Channel tunnel was "the most expensive infrastructure project" as well, tunnels in Alps also, but they were built. Would be interesting to read less vacuous comments.
@@u1zha the difference is that the channel tunnel connected a very populous and rich country to the rest of the continent. The tunnels in alps cut hours off of the travel happening between multiple rich nations. Finland is a developed nation, sure, but it simply is not a nation as important as Britain was when the channel tunnel was proposed and funded. Its simply not worth the cost.
There has been a lot of talk in the media about electric cars for the last 20 years, but the future belongs to the railways, not least because they have known and successfully practised electric mobility on rails for over a hundred years. An electrified rail network means about as much to a country or region as a hot running water system. Just ten years after completion, people will believe that this rail link has always been there because it is simple and yet so ingenious.
The social, political and economic value of this line makes the price an absolute bargain. While outside forces are trying to split Eastern Europe from the West, this will play a major role in keeping the free nations of Europe together.
This is money well spent on European integration and future, just as Fehmarnbelt and Brenner. Excellent news and a great report ... as always on this channel. 👍 Greetz from Vienna
It's astonishing just how many large scale projects are under construction at the same time. That gives a lot of hope, that very little may be left behind.
I remember when, before joining the EU, we had border checks to pass and pothole filled roads. Reaching Poland from northern Estonia took a day of driving. Once this project finishes, 3,5 hours you say? Fundamental changes over the course of a generation.
I don't quite like how the start of this video seems to paint the Baltic states' railways as somewhat deteriorating soviet remnants, when that's not quite fair. For one, Estonia I believe is the first country to have 100% step free train entrances if I'm not misremembering
Went to Estonia like almost 20 years ago. There weren't any highways but you could see "European funded projects" everywhere to make that happen. This is the power of the EU: solidarity to make everybody in the union stronger. Viva Europa.
7:50 There is significant transport hub near Vilnius geležinkelio stotis (train station) which exists right now: trolleybuses and city buses use 10 platforms (from A to J) here, and here is an intercity and international bus terminal. I don’t see them on the render - only pedestrian spaces and bushed rendered on the space occupied by platforms now.
I don't think most people realise, how insanely competitive that railway would be. Take the trip from Riga to Tallinn: You can either take slow trains or be a little quicker by car. but it's not much, as you can only go 90 km/h most of the time and drive on a two lane road - for 4 hours! This would make going between the two a breeze, makes me happy for these brilliant countries
Proud of how the Baltics have been so well integrated since their occupation ended. Despite their continuing demographic challenges, it's good to unite as much as possible with the rest of the EU!
This may not be ground breaking engineering, but I'm excited for countries to prosper and grow. And this will certainly help them. Everything blows out of cost, who cares just finish it because at the end of the day it's a vital piece of infrastructure that will be beneficial for many many years to come.
Great thing is, while the scale is big, and probably some new things are developed and designed just for these rail baltica projects, the principles and technology themselves are already in use elsewhere successfully. It's railroad, and not even extremely high speed, and it's standard gauge. Signaling and electric is already used elsewhere too.
Woooooo! Let’s go Europeeeee!!! Let’s get this incredible project done as weeeeelllllll!!! This is civilisation at its core! Paraphrasing Jules Verne: “a functioning railway system is the symbol of civilisation”. Let’s go Europe! (I don’t know why I’m so exited by this, I’m actually Italian, but the EU is my Home - Safe European Home, as The Clash used to sing back in the day - and seeing these incredible projects being brought forward by passionate and competent people along with the bigger and utopian T-net project just makes me hopeful about the future of The Union🇪🇺)
Even without the tunnel, this still massively improves the situation for Finland. Two hours over to Tallinn on the ferry, and then you can be in central Europe in a matter of hours? That's still like an order of magnitude better than anything we had before.
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH. Bro, if only you knew how bad things really are. I'm an American living in Latvia for 3 years...haha, they can't even build a road.
This is not to replace Russian railways - it is a completely new line in a location where there is no railway now to interconnect north and south. Also - there are north-to-south lines and in past it is possible to go from Lithuania to Latvia to Tallin by train.
7:15 out of curiosity, is there any reason as to why they have already laid down the ballast, tracks & electric poles in an isolated viaduct? Wouldn't it make more sense (and be cheaper) to build the entire infrastructure (or most of it) and then start laying down the superstructure?
Because that's how EU funding works. Everything is funded in parts. Originally the trains were supposed to run in 2022, then in 2026, now in 2030, but the actual railroad construction hasn't even started.
This is like saying it is ironic that he use wheels or boats to transport stuff because how old those technologies are. Is this because trains are old but not ancient? Will people be saying this about magnetic levitation in the future or fiber optics? If these technologies work right now and make sense to use, then they are just the best current solution.
As a Swede, I’ve been to all three countries many times. It was complicated to get between the capitals, even harder by the coast. This will boost the region immensely, well needed. All three countries will get more tourists both from Finland and polen. Business in the capitals will boom with more connections between the countries to work as a unified region. Perhaps we’ll see the Baltic union soon. But also raising prices of real estate and general cost of living in the capitals.
But isn't the whole point of tourism to experience how things are done in a strange place? If everywhere is the same train station, same tram, same hotel, same convenience store, same copy of another tourist trap, what's the point of tourism?
@@floycewhite6991 Hah. You do have a point. The easier it is to go around the world the less difference it is. 200 years ago it could be major differences between provinces within a country and the train came to unification. Even more important to unification with people with cultures somewhat alike? :)
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
If they can do it for even nearly that price, some of Europe's best invested money
WOW, score! What a phenomenal achievement mate, way to go!
They NEVER hit their price targets. This project will cost at least 30% more.
@@mynameisschezuan if they hit 30% more is ok. problem is to not hit 300% more (3x)...
@@jamieusman😅 These three countries have populations of less than 10 million. Surely you can return your investment.
This investment looks worse than Chinese infrastructure investmentlosses continue to be operational costs .
@@jamieusman😅 These three countries have populations of less than 10 million. Surely you can return your investment.
This investment looks worse than Chinese infrastructure investmentlosses continue to be operational costs .
Man, as a Scandinavian, I so want to see the Baltics succeed in every way possible. Scandinavia was one of the first to recognise their independence and we definitely want to them to be better connected to us.
Absolutely, they are our brothers and sisters.
My question is when will the Baltic region be absolutely integrated into the Scandinavian family?
As Lithuanian, I thank you for your kind words.
@@grambo4436 Maybe when there'll be a tunnel from Estonia or Latvia to Sweden. Or no. Even Finland is kinda on the outskirts. (Finland is Nordic but not rly a Scandinavian country)
@@ratyjoona I too was thinking of a high speed tunnel to Finland... Listening, I was expecting to hear of a direct link from the northern terminals, say a high speed passenger ferry from Tallinn or a slower passenger/freight ferry from Muuga across to Finland.
Don't forget that this isn’t just infrastructural mega project but also one of immense strategic importance, completely new and independent rail system in the Baltics as it is 1435 gauge, and polish part of it as the whole line from Warsaw to PL-LT border is being upgraded at the same time to integrate it.
It's about connecting with Finland by land. You can forget about military goals, strategically this line is too vulnerable, so no one will keep serious troops there. unless the strategy is to make it easier to get people out of the Baltics, but I doubt that either haha
@@Tony-.🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
NATO literally has a major defensive force stationed across these countries. You didn't even know that?🙄
@Hjernespreng I beleive his point is it would be one of the first things blown up in the first volley so it's use for military reasons is limited
@@Hjernespreng lol.
Same gang who run away from Afghanistan?
Oh dear...
@@Distress. And NATO is there that the idiot in moscow doesn't get any ideas of blowing up infrastructure and people in the baltics
As a Latvian myself, this is the most information I've heard about this project till now. Didn't know there are so many bridges to be built, also I hadn't heard that there will be 2 story bridge, mostly only stuff around the bridge in Riga center and the station itself. Really nice and informative video as always, didn't expect to see one about this project as i didn't fully understand the importance it has on Europe as whole.
You misspelled misinformation
You just live in an information gap. All of this information has been out there for years....
There are informative YT channels like @azokaLtd and @brpinsenerid7781
@@PlaaTable Care to elaborate on what about this video is misinformation?
Railways Explained has a video on the project, I can recommend it
Greetings from Germany. I hope this programm will succeed in engineering, building, economically and in connecting people!
Will also be good for us. then we can visit tallin by train without changing - or at least our freight trains. ;) TEN-T is by far the best what EU has given to us - althrough nobody knows it. ^^
Germany and trains
@@PROVOCATEURSK I know I know. but DB is heavily investin right now and well... we have a really massive, internationally connected railway system to begin with... It could be worse, it could be better. I for my part wouldn't want to manage all of that either
what people? Baltic states are dying.
-30% of population for last 20 years.
@@Maks_Morkovkin Damn russian bots are even here🤣🤣Consider getting life instead of spreading lies
8 billion dollars? That is nothing. We spend 16 billions for the new train station in Stuttgart Germany alone. So, that money is well spend.
I dont think it will be that cheap in reality
Maybe you need to export more democracy and capitalism to them so more money can get to the pockets of evil politicians.
Watch how it surpass the 20billion. I’m living closely from Stuttgart and oh god they finished the tunnels rn and finsihed the white piles (idk how to call them) when it truly will be finished no one knows
16 billions for stations?We spent 810 million for South bridge in Riga.And no,Rail Baltica doesnt go through Riga
🤣🤣🤣
From the Netherlands, I wish ALL you Baltics the best. Warm energy to you all. We have a gorgeous continent. With wonderful different nations, all sharing common values.
I wish this project success
🇪🇪
thank you from Lithuania!
❤from Latvia 🌞
Really? Are you sure that open family scandinavian values acceptable for Italians or Spanish? :) For examle.
Or Baltic nazi values acceptable for French?
Meanwhile, today Latvia imprisons people for several years bringing flowers to the site of a destroyed Soviet monument. Such a great values🤣
The Berlin to Warsaw part of it, is just as important.
Forget about it
Our current gov stoppped the project a hsr in Poland
@@94PiOTS Tell me more! Do you have links? I live in Berlin and would love a good connection to Poland
@@94PiOTS They haven't stopped the project.
@@94PiOTSRubbish. The Białystok line is already being renovated
@@tomo_xD 160 max xd
hsr begins from 250
Holy smokes! As a Canadian I thought that project would cost 150-200B USD! We have a 16 KM Skytrain (subway, not high speed train) expansion project going here in Metro Vancouver which is gonna cost 3B! 8B for 870 KMs for a high speed line is mere pennies! Kudos!
You can be certain it will cost a lot more than $8 Bn! 😂
But if the politicos knew the truth the project would never get started.
"We have a 16 KM Skytrain (subway, not high speed train) expansion project going here in Metro Vancouver which is gonna cost 3B!"
But presumably that'll either be underground (=more expensive construction) or take up space in dense urban area (=more expensive land). Rail Baltica won't need much (if any) tunnelling and most of it won't be inside cities were land is expensive (though obviously some of it has to be).
There's a proposed subway extension on Philadelphia that would cover 20km that is projected to cost $3b 😑
@@seneca983The Skytrain is actually elevated for the most part, not tunnelled or on the ground.
@@Jerdifier OK, but then it's still going to take some very expensive land which probably adds to the cost. I guess you can probably have e.g. roads going under the elevated tracks so it doesn't consume as much valuable land as it's width would seem to indicate but it's still probably a significant factor.
Disney has spent nearly $30 billion on Disney+, and hasn't yet turned a profit. So the fact that the EU can build a massive, modern rail network spanning three different countries for less than $10 billion is impressive.
for sure it will double or triple at the end but way cheaper than uk 🚄 hs2
@@algijura Even if it doubles or triples, it still costs less to built a useful piece of long-lasting infrastructure than it costs Disney to buy some mid-tier virtual media.
American money is completely fake. European money is actually tied to things like German cars and French wine and Spanish cheese.
Well those 3 countries barely hit 6 million in population. But Poland will have extra workforce this way, I guess
Incredible the level of ambition and foresight by other European nations, highlights the pathetic nature of infrastructure of the UK. Impressive, very best of luck to the Baltic Nations!
well standup and do something
AND the USA. agreed. Its sad. All we build around my parts is strip malls -.-
@@ZepyhrLight We need to elect leaders who recognize the benefits of high speed rail. The good news is California is building two (although one is over budget and way behind schedule, but still).
UK HSR 2 is ambitions but well mostly cancelled.
@@anth1655the whole of the UK is literally crying out for a general election we’re being held hostage by our own government
Great to see B1M mentioning the same project (Ülemiste joint terminal) I'm working on, even if my role as a structural engineer is just a small part of it!
An underground rail link from Estonia to Finland would be a great extension to this new line. The site in Denmark for the Denmatk - Sweden tunnel could just keep churning out segments and they could be towed across the Baltic or the casting equipment could be moved to a closer location.
and continue it through Finland and connect to Åland and finally Sweden by tunnel would be awesome
Not at all realistic
@@Gfynbcyiokbg8710 why not it would cost about the same as the existing tunnel from Denmark to Sweden and less than the chunnel.
There was a study on that tunnel between Tallinn and Helsinki in the 2010s and the price then was 16BN EUR, right now it is at least 20BN, it is too expensive and complex for the number of people living in the Baltics (less than 7m, in Tallinn 500K) and Finland (less than 6ml, in Helsinki 700K). Perhaps, in the future, it will be built
@@jeremytaylor3532 It's over 10 times as long as the Öresund tunnel, which was also built 25 years ago
Greetings from Latvia! Thanks for bringing this topic up!
Sveiki!
I loved visiting Latvia a few years ago.
Why it is called Rail Baltica not Rail Latvia or something like that?
this is wild waste of money! because they have to transport on this system!!!!! this counterstrikes are ded economical//
@@ragnarlaine4065because it goes through all baltics
@@jh5kl No, it's not
As a Croatian, knowing how much better starting position we had in the 90's, even with the war, I can only bang my head into the wall when I see the state of our railway network and the immense progress the Baltic states made in that (and every other) sector.
This is the main difference between organized countries that have to work and plan in order to achieve something and corrupted shitholes with lazy population that base their entire economy on a hope that the weather will be sunny and that the tourists will swarm the coast, ready to spend their hard earned money on overpriced meals and accomodation.
Kudos for all Baltic states, not just for building this, but also for not taking shit from Russians. You are a role model for small nations when it comes to holding your ground in a highly unfavorable geopolitical environment.
Imagine being from Slovakia, that's even worse...
We didn't send them any shit for them to refuse 😂
As a fellow Croat and regular visitor to Split, I can say that indigenous tourism, built solely on small private initiative of renting apartments and small restaurants is working great, because fortunately we avoided much involvement from state. Unfortunately large foreign interests try now to jump in wagon, pushing real estate price to "money laundering" category. However, if you come to Croatia you will see that quality/price ratio of tourist offering beats most of Europe so even restaurants in centre of Split with inflated prices are full. BTW, I am also upset by dismal state of local railways and complete destruction of local industries and agriculture. If there is no tourism, people without connection to get government job would have no chance but to emigrate
Oh my God, such disappointing words. I thought that Croatia is a heaven for people living there. Such a beautiful nature, clean sea, so many places to visit, hiking, riding a bicycle. I've always dreamt to visit Croatia, but as always in history damn Russians began their actions to destroy planet.
greetings from Lithuania to Croatia. I always admired your country and nation!
How is this only 8 billion dollars when HS2 is 52 Billion Pounds...???
NIMBY'ism
Yeah. I was like, 6? Yes, it has risen to 8 and most likely more, but I was in the around 10-20b
Hs 2 is capable of 350km/h, literally the best we are building on earth, this one is just 250 km/h. And of course higher costs probably
HS2 is a national embarrassment as usual for the UK, millions funnelled to the already rich.
Hs2 is only 1/3 of the distance too
Can anyone please explain to me how an 870 km high speed rail project is built for the same amount as a 10 kilometre railway in Melbourne?
Cos nobody wants to live and work in the Suwalki gap
No CFMEU involved .
higher wages, less tunnels, less incompetence
Ist a very flat area with a very low population density. You can just build straight lines and nobody complains about their home being near the tracks. In Addition the wages are still low compared to other European areas.
@JimmiAlli or the same amount as a few km of light rail on the Gold Coast!
in the 60’s they thought we would have flying cars as our preferred method of transportation, here in 2024 we’re doubling down on rail networks; don’t change what’s not broken i guess.
Flying is one of the most popular methods.
Flying cars has the "small" issue that so many people fail to bring up: Crashes.
A crash from a car is bad enough, a flying car is far worse. Imagine drunk flying, faulty vihecles and many other issues (not to mention in-air crashes spiralling out of control).
On top of this, there's the issue that it just wouldn't be efficient or necessary. It just doesn't make sense even if it were possible, as it just replaces one problem with another, but doesn't really solve issues.
we never did invent anti gravity tech the wanted back in the 60's
Rail is pretty sci-fi.
It's really the perfect form of transport, especially in Europe. Im surprised Americans don't harness it more, they need more high speed rail networks cos its such a sprawling country. Your F150 isn't doing 250 clicks
Traveling from Tallinn, Estonia to Western Europe will definitely be on my bucket-list!
Same here 🎉
If the rail is finally finished.
Start in Helsinki and take a ferry to Tallinn then do your trip.
Take bus now, it's not as fast, but you see a lot of the countries.
Yeah, but Western Europe located in North and West not South
This should be followed by a tunnel to Helsinki as a next project.
It is too expensive for the number of people connecting, 16BN EUR plus. Maybe in the future, it will be built. Right now ferries are much more feasible
it will be or the bridge as they thought at the beginning this project 🤪
Absolutely not. The ferry works just fine
@@jippee1nope. AKT and strikes
@Hornisse-Me410 It's not planned, it was discussed, and a feasibility study was done, and there are no funds for the building, or planning (doing technical design) of it currently. Finland and Estonia are not going to pay for it, something like 16-20Bn + of EUR, and the EU is not going to provide 85% for it, like they do for Rail Baltica. Maybe after or about 2040.
When Rail Baltica is finished, I'll use it to finally visit the Baltic states.
@@Nauda999 Funny you think so. Even with all the faults and problems EU has this is way too important reputation check to let it slide. It's gonna be fine.
@@matrixfull I agree to that, but there is a significant possibility that EU has no choice to admit that they are in economic crisis, and if they do that then this small railway side project wouldn't even matter on reputation.
There is even possibility that EU just ends.
It would be enough for just Germany to leave EU for it to end, there are probably other scenarios where EU ends.
And just because the consequences would be devastating doesn't mean it can't happen, there are plenty of examples in history.
Riga is amazing, Tallinn is just gorgeous - never went to Vilnius, but dropped by in beautiful Kaunas. Enjoy your trip - it's wonderful!
you wont see much. those poor countries are empty. no young people.
@@hzlh2254 Never been there then. Not empty, and plenty of young people.
I’m from Poland and I’m super excited about it
yep, its nice when Tallinn port will be used instead of poles :)
@@Maks_Morkovkin yep, and even nicer that soon the Tallinn port will be used even more then the Great Port of Saint Petersburg, cheer up botnik
@@victorspencer4885 it’s simply impossible, cuz just travel boats fleet in StPetersburg is bigger then whole Tallinn ;)
When it is finished I will have no excuses to not visit Varšavu.
I'm lithuanian and I want to thank Europe from all of my heart for this project. I hope it will benefit us all.
thank you for being part of the family 😀👍🤝🇪🇺❤️💪
i was in latvia riga for esarmus and I'm telling you they were building like crazy working day and night
Erasmus?
@@halberderdier8073 It's student exchange program.
@@halberderdier8073student exchange programme for European students. I am from Poland and did my exchange in Cyprus.
@@halberderdier8073 that's student's exchange program.
I love projects like these as they bring Europe closer together and improve everyone's lives! I'm already looking forward to taking the train from my German home city of Duisburg all the way up to the Baltic states!
All means are already there for you to travel!
🇪🇺😀👍🤝🇪🇺❤️💪
I remember getting emotional watching on tv the baltic human chain on my teen years in distant PT. This kinda reminds me of those days amidst current aggressions. We need to connect to every edge of Europe, specially by trains.
Yes. NATO is extremely agressive. Ask afghans or Iraqis. Or Libyans, Syrians... List is endless..
@@pepevonkek7803русский тролль вылез
@@pepevonkek7803 Ask Ukrainians and Georgians and the popular will to join it. You are not against invasions, only specific countries and alliances doing them but not others.
@pepevonkek7803 how can you simp for a country that has had the same "president" for 25 years and then say a different group is bad? How broken is your brain that you simp for dictators?
Connection exists already. No need to destroy your own nature for a new posh train.
Going from 6 billion to 8 is surprisingly low. I kinda expected to hear that costs would be double its original estimate. Also, the designs of these train stations are really awesome. Modern, flowing contours, that fit quite neatly in their surroundings of older architecture. Looks like they took some lessons there and not placed something 'modern' there without regard to its buildings around.
I always dread the word ‘modern’ when used in any design context. Building should always be designed to fit in their surroundings, which in the case of Riga at least should be inspired by the 1920s/30s like the rest of the city centre.
The video makes a mistake a bit, 8Bn EUR it is for the Latvian stretch of the rail, in prices in mid-2010 it was roughly 1.5Bn EUR. But anyway, it is a very important project, especially for the Baltics and the economic benefits from that rail are massive. The prices of construction almost doubled in the Baltics and the project itself grew significantly, the regional stations appeared etc.
Probably a massive increase relative to the sizes of the countries involved
I live in Estonia and last week official audit came out. It was done by state auditors in all three baltic countries.
The cost of this project has risen to 15bn today and they project that total cost will be around 25bn very far from the inital 6bn.
EU is not planning to cover the budget overrun so it starting to become a heavy burden to our government's budget.
Keeping in mind that Baltic statest invest around 3% GDP to defense ( Estonia 3.4% in 2024) and the goverment budget is under heavy stress and now Rail Baltic cost overruns will make the situation even harder(government budget wise).
Do you have a link to your information? asking from Norway
That's really not that bad compared to California's high-speed rail!! Wish our costs aren't blowing up so much 😂😅
@@alfjohansen2918 he is right about 25bn, but he is here to spread Russian propoganda, how this project is not worth it.
Awesome project!
I really want to see the Baltics succeed in it.
P.S. Big recommendation - railway museum at Riga.
I loved visiting Latvia a few years ago.
I can highly recommend it, not just Riga, but especially some nice areas outside of it as well.
The coast near Kolga, the castles and palaces from the middle ages to the 18th century, the Soviet Secret Bunker.
I’ve been waiting for this video for forever! Very excited about this Northern European development! 😁
Just keep in mind, this is only a biased promotional video, not showing you any (")negative(") arguments!
@@lendalennuk2484 agreed.
As a German visiting the Baltic States via public transport just a few weeks ago I can confirm this project is definitely worth the cost. In terms of international travel the Baltic States still have a long way to go. Looking forward to visit the Baltics again once Rail Baltica finally operates.
Recently took a 9 day trip around the Baltic sea from the Netherlands. The rail connection from Riga to Tallinn takes an entire day, when a bus takes about 3 hours. Public transport inside the Baltic countries is amazing, but connectivity between the capitals is not too good. This line is a very welcome addition.
A suggestion for a video. One video that does the overview of all these massive European projects showing their interconections.
another suggestion. delete it, because it is so obvious neomarxist propaganda
As much as like the idea, I am not sure this is the right channel for this ...
... and with a TRUE impact budget on the Nature.
I can't speak for other countries but in Estonia, the other railways are really ok, I think they've all been reconstructed within the last 15 years to handle the Stadler trains that replaced the old Russian ones more than 10 years ago. Rail Baltic doesn't replace any Russian railways, it runs on a completely new corridor, although about 20 years ago there used to be a railway in the same direction, which wasn't used much and was therefore abandoned and demolished.
I mean you have to consider that this will mean a doubling of the speed compared to the current tracks and together with the upgraded connection from Poland to Lithuania the journey times from Central Europe to the Baltics will dramatically decrease. I’m super hyped for this project 🥳
@@TheLikeys Almost doubling, as the lines I've rode on are either 120kmh or 160kmh, but obviously these lines don't go the same direction as Rail Baltica so Rail Baltica is really only comparable with current bus or air connections.
Bottom line, the video intro seemed clickbaitishly harsh for the working infrastructure that is up to standards (except the gauge distance) and getting constant upgrades worth millions every year.
100% correct. If something is not profitable- you close it down. Nobody wanted to go by train.
@@raunce91 I don’t get why your so “against” this investment into the region. I am not trying to downplaying the current infrastructure - it’s about adding a true high-speed link between the capitals. Also this is huge for trading as the line will be extensively used by freight. And as we’re trying to reduce the dependency on air travel on short hauls, I guess the only ones who’ll be worried a bit is airBaltic..
@@TheLikeys You read what you want to read :) I'm not at all against it, but I'm not overly excited either. We'll see how it will get on. Bus tickets between Tallinn and Kaunas/Vilnius are currently around 20€, we'll see if Rail Baltic will be able to compete. You can get much further than that directly with Ryanair. Expensive but time efficient trains between Tallinn and Tartu are so popular that additional trains are being built, whereas buses are also full every half an hour. In comparison to Rail Baltica route, buses across the Baltics only depart a few times a day and there are always seats available. Most road traffic through the Baltics are trucks, we'll see if they'll get some of their cargo on the rails instead, freeing up the roads a bit.
I think AirBaltic can only win from Rail Baltic, since it connects Estonians and Lithuanians to Riga Airport, which has the best connections in the Baltics.
If the trains will be comfortable and not too expensive, we might say goodbye to trying and failing to sleep in FlixBus while waiting for the smooth Estonian roads be able to use the lavatory without any spillage.
Meanwhile in Canada we've been talking of high speed rail in the Quebec-Windsor corridor for about 30+ years and there still hasn't been a shovel anywhere near the ground... I lived in Europe for a while and on the transportation aspect I got to say I miss it. I was living in Barcelona and the metro is excellent and the highspeed train network too! I live in Montreal and have family in Quebec and it would be so nice to be able to go see them in 1h or less... (it's about 250km)
We’re talking about a high *frequency* train, not a high speed one. We can dream about 150km/h max. It’s ludicrous.
@@benoithudson7235 Not anymore! They seem to be looking into 250km/h+ service! It was announced in the last 1-2 months or so.
We are waiting for this project also for 30+ years, basically since Russians destroyed previous railways under occupation.
This is seriously impressive! It's great to see this level of complexity and cooperation all coming together.
Big thanks from a Baltic person for finally tackling one of the biggest projects for our lives here. We love your work here B1M!
Glad to see that your videos are now in 4K. 😀
Greetings from Rīga. It's interesting to see how all this take a shape from ground perspective. Hope this will boost our post-soviet economies. But sad, that a lot of people hate this project for inconveniences caused by construction works in the city.
Was in Riga right after the liberation, visiting from Denmark. Here everybody HATED the metro, as it took a decade to complete, was obnoxiously noisy, dusty, and incredibly inconvenient! What a nuisance!! But now that it's finished - we'd really not like to have to live without it! I hope you'll feel just the same 🤗 it's an epic project, and seen from abroad it truly seems like something you can all be very proud of! And a very nice thing to stick to the little wannabe czar to our East
Once in operation everyone will love it..
Экономические преимущества этого проекта крайне сомнительны. Пассажирские перевозки не будут приносить доход, так как население этих стран крайне малочисленное. С грузовыми перевозками всё еще хуже. Непонятно какие грузы хотят перевозить по этой дороге, и какой объем этих грузов будет? Скорее всего этот проект загонит страны Балтии в долговую яму.
@@gukow1 It seems unlikely that this could drive the Baltic countries into a debt trap because most of the funding comes from the EU.
@@seneca983
Я знаю, что строят эту дорогу в основном за счет средств ЕС.
Обслуживать эту железную дорогу будет тоже ЕС или страны Балтии? Кто будет нести эксплуатационные расходы, если дорога будет убыточной?
Anything that connects and unifies Europe is good.
Destruction of independent states and culture.
We don't need European "values"
Leave us alone.
Even Hitler?
@@d.b.cooper1- Rather Napoleon. He probably did more to disrupt/reinvent Europe than any other single figure, and not all in a good way.
@@d.b.cooper1 Really?
this rail is literally build to disconnect Europe and split it..
This rail makes trips from Finland to Central Europe much faster, it connects to Poland and Germany via high speed rail networks. Connections every hour to Berlin. Rail transport from Rotterdam to Tallin will give the port of Tallin new opportunities.
Until I saw the rail development at Riga airport last week, I had no idea this even existed - thank you so much for covering this!
I laughed when she said "the history of rail baltica dates 30 years ago, but we are in the final stage of design"
Sounds like a very common speed for major railway projects in modern democracies. :)
Mind you. Either you forced some segments of your population into poverty to fund your state projects, or build up momentum and savings to get it running.
It's a reason why democracies are longer-lasting than silly autocracies.
Goofy dictatorships as well
@@FiredAndIced Oh, now the Baltic countries will pay for it with their savings? Here I thought it was other countries in Europe that are forced to pay 90% of the cost for this railway. It's always easy to build things with other peoples money.
@@temper44 no one is forced to pay. it's mostly EU funding......... which all three are part of..... and the project is for the benefit for the whole union.
Thanks!
I wish the UK would do the same!
We couldd start with with a high speed network connecting say HS1, London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
We are. HS2 will have Birmingham (via London) to Paris high speed rail in 3 hours.
You can thank Brixit for that not happening...
UK and Australia is to busy laundering money through foreign property investment,
Captain Brexit does not agree
I was in Tallinn last week and the scale of modern architecture really surprised me - some super nice and well constructed buildings, lots of ameneties - I'd live there.
😅 These three countries have populations of less than 10 million. Surely you can return your investment.
This investment looks worse than Chinese infrastructure investmentlosses continue to be operational costs .
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa
Copy-> Paste
I moved to Tallinn 2 years ago and I love the amount of construction and progress in the city. Some of the new development is kinda boring and ugly, but there are awesome projects too, either huge buildings completely made out of wood or combining old traditional look with more modern style. Living here makes me excited about the future.
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa chinese bot much?
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa With such big projects, you never earn back the money, doesn't matter if you're building it in Germany, France, USA or Canada.
Please do a segment on the unbelievably costly rail project on Oahu Island Hawaii,already over 10 billon and not complete after 10 years !
ruclips.net/video/3xnrhm1KcB4/видео.htmlsi=6jpfhLGUd9VnqTyC they’re getting away cheap
I am surprised that one the most important drivers - military mobility - is not mentioned in the video
Did you notice that nor environmental damage?
Yet another quality production signed B1M. I love this channel ❤
I'm not taking any train journey if it won't be long enough to let me watch Gone with the Wind!
Bonkers. It's taken forever and a ton of money here in California to just get some track on the ground from LA to SF. I wouldn't doubt if the $6 billion price tag for the Baltic line to balloon to $20 billion. But it looks like it would be a wonderful ride.
It will balloon for sure
@@martinkoitmae6655 It will balloon from inflation alone. Anyway, infrastructure is wise thing to invest in these economic circumstances.
Lithuania has a new train line connecting Vilnius true Kaunas to Poland and the train tickets are always sold out, so it is showing the need for this project and perhaps it proves that this project will be successful! Some of the freight train connections in Lithuania were already tested by trains and were celebrated for a new beginning.
this is wild waste of money! because they have to transport on this system!!!!! this counterstrikes are ded economical//
I love B1M. Please keep doing what you do!
Please, go to the frontline little supporter, they need you there
It's such a good project...not only to connect the states, but also to connect the people and show what we can build together as the EU.
it feels illegal to be this early to a video
You're under arrest!
As you are BUSTED, you get a punishment. Watch all B1M videos!
The next thing they need to do is to link the railway and road network to a tunnel from Tallinn to Helsinki.
Complete pipedream that.
Yeah, overall the line is on the surface, mostly goes through rural areas, and thus price tag much lower than the HS2 tunnels extravaganza...
Would be a massive win if Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel under Gulf of Finland was added to the scheme!
Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel is utopia, it literally would be the most expensive infrastructure project in europe.
@@peeterl.2016 Why so pessimistic? Channel tunnel was "the most expensive infrastructure project" as well, tunnels in Alps also, but they were built. Would be interesting to read less vacuous comments.
@@u1zha the difference is that the channel tunnel connected a very populous and rich country to the rest of the continent. The tunnels in alps cut hours off of the travel happening between multiple rich nations. Finland is a developed nation, sure, but it simply is not a nation as important as Britain was when the channel tunnel was proposed and funded. Its simply not worth the cost.
It's amazing to watch this project come together! I've been watching it closely and driven around it, for obvious reasons, and it looks wonderful!
I had no idea this was being made, or that is was necessary. Thanks for covering this!
Dunno why us Estonians hate the project, to me seems like a cool way to get around and transport stuff.
Not much cool thing to destroy your own nature, bro, in my humble opinion!
Everyone hates construction work and the inconveniences it causes to our lives until it's done.
I don't hear any hate in Narva, only a passionate words about this project. But here, in Narva not so much peaple know about project at all.
@@lendalennuk2484a single train track doesn’t really destroy nature
@@IhaveBigFeet 1. This sin't a "single track".
2. How much do you know about A) Nature; and B) Building a fast railway track?
There has been a lot of talk in the media about electric cars for the last 20 years, but the future belongs to the railways, not least because they have known and successfully practised electric mobility on rails for over a hundred years. An electrified rail network means about as much to a country or region as a hot running water system. Just ten years after completion, people will believe that this rail link has always been there because it is simple and yet so ingenious.
The social, political and economic value of this line makes the price an absolute bargain. While outside forces are trying to split Eastern Europe from the West, this will play a major role in keeping the free nations of Europe together.
Wow, it must be nice to live in a country determined to invest in its infrastructure.
Its easier for us because EU also helps with it
Greetings from Las Vegas. Keep up the good work. I’d love to ride your train some day. 😊
This is money well spent on European integration and future, just as Fehmarnbelt and Brenner. Excellent news and a great report ... as always on this channel. 👍
Greetz from Vienna
Congrats to these nations👍 great vid🙏
Thanks - an Estonian
For Europe, interconnected and standardised infrastructure is crucial to our future security and prosperity
It's astonishing just how many large scale projects are under construction at the same time. That gives a lot of hope, that very little may be left behind.
Imagine how wholesome it will be when builders from different countries reach each other and they connect the tracks xD
I remember when, before joining the EU, we had border checks to pass and pothole filled roads. Reaching Poland from northern Estonia took a day of driving. Once this project finishes, 3,5 hours you say? Fundamental changes over the course of a generation.
Indeed. Now UK has passport checks and potholes thanks to Brexit.
First actually-factually correct video about the Rail Baltica with all up-to-date footage in quite a while. Great job!
Finally, I was waiting for this video!
So happy the Baltics are getting well connected, greetings from The Netherlands!
Will be cool to travel from Estonia to The Netherlands via train
@B1M crew. Thanks for this ENCOURAGING video.
You're welcome! The only unfortunate thing is, you must have two separate videos for TRUTHFUL and ENCOURAGING here...
NZer here - this is wonderful stuff!
I want to visit NZ one day - an Estonian
@@martinkoitmae6655 - You will be very welcome here! Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians - wonderful people!
NZ= New Zealand?
I don't quite like how the start of this video seems to paint the Baltic states' railways as somewhat deteriorating soviet remnants, when that's not quite fair. For one, Estonia I believe is the first country to have 100% step free train entrances if I'm not misremembering
In Latvia we started to change ancient old RVRs only this year. So he is talking about us not you guys ;) Estonians are slow only in water.
Went to Estonia like almost 20 years ago.
There weren't any highways but you could see "European funded projects" everywhere to make that happen.
This is the power of the EU: solidarity to make everybody in the union stronger.
Viva Europa.
Come again. Estonia has changed a lot!
😀👍🇪🇺🤝❤️💪
7:50 There is significant transport hub near Vilnius geležinkelio stotis (train station) which exists right now: trolleybuses and city buses use 10 platforms (from A to J) here, and here is an intercity and international bus terminal. I don’t see them on the render - only pedestrian spaces and bushed rendered on the space occupied by platforms now.
I don't think most people realise, how insanely competitive that railway would be. Take the trip from Riga to Tallinn: You can either take slow trains or be a little quicker by car. but it's not much, as you can only go 90 km/h most of the time and drive on a two lane road - for 4 hours! This would make going between the two a breeze, makes me happy for these brilliant countries
A great project. Beautiful countries.
Proud of how the Baltics have been so well integrated since their occupation ended. Despite their continuing demographic challenges, it's good to unite as much as possible with the rest of the EU!
This may not be ground breaking engineering, but I'm excited for countries to prosper and grow. And this will certainly help them. Everything blows out of cost, who cares just finish it because at the end of the day it's a vital piece of infrastructure that will be beneficial for many many years to come.
Great thing is, while the scale is big, and probably some new things are developed and designed just for these rail baltica projects, the principles and technology themselves are already in use elsewhere successfully. It's railroad, and not even extremely high speed, and it's standard gauge. Signaling and electric is already used elsewhere too.
@@jarivuorinen3878 ahh yeh. Just so great to see these projects.
Woooooo! Let’s go Europeeeee!!! Let’s get this incredible project done as weeeeelllllll!!! This is civilisation at its core! Paraphrasing Jules Verne: “a functioning railway system is the symbol of civilisation”. Let’s go Europe! (I don’t know why I’m so exited by this, I’m actually Italian, but the EU is my Home - Safe European Home, as The Clash used to sing back in the day - and seeing these incredible projects being brought forward by passionate and competent people along with the bigger and utopian T-net project just makes me hopeful about the future of The Union🇪🇺)
I just travelled the baltics from south to north with a visit to Helsinki. It's easy enough but this would massively improve connectivity!
It's seems like 2030 is the year where literally every big project will finish lol
Also, the TGV line between Bourdeaux and Toulouse is planned to be finished in 2030 (245 kilometers of rail track).
Hmmm yes. And then no more money for anymore 'big' projects?
That's because deadline for basic TEN-T connections is exactly 2030.
TENT-T means TransEuropean Network - Transport
Hopefully the EU funds the tunnel to Finland as well. Finland not getting enough EU dev money for infrastructure.
Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel would be awesome
Even without the tunnel, this still massively improves the situation for Finland. Two hours over to Tallinn on the ferry, and then you can be in central Europe in a matter of hours? That's still like an order of magnitude better than anything we had before.
These three countries really have their shit together.
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH. Bro, if only you knew how bad things really are. I'm an American living in Latvia for 3 years...haha, they can't even build a road.
@@eustacemcgoodboy9702Can't happen in the US, can it?
No we dont, but still it feels likes we are more sane than those more to the west
@@eustacemcgoodboy9702 USA doesn't even have that much roads as we have, all our big roads are in good condition too.
@@purpplekushh lololololololololol
Thanks for this informative and encouraging video!
Interesting project, thanks for researching and bringing it to us.
This is not to replace Russian railways - it is a completely new line in a location where there is no railway now to interconnect north and south.
Also - there are north-to-south lines and in past it is possible to go from Lithuania to Latvia to Tallin by train.
We and I mean the U.K. should have been part of this. Leaving the EU was total nuts and when the old folks die we’ll rejoin if they’ll have us.
The strategic importance of this project is underlined by the fact that it is being built in standard gauge of 1435 mm instead of 1520 mm broad gauge.
7:15 out of curiosity, is there any reason as to why they have already laid down the ballast, tracks & electric poles in an isolated viaduct? Wouldn't it make more sense (and be cheaper) to build the entire infrastructure (or most of it) and then start laying down the superstructure?
Because that's how EU funding works. Everything is funded in parts. Originally the trains were supposed to run in 2022, then in 2026, now in 2030, but the actual railroad construction hasn't even started.
Great investment. Rail transport is ironically the future.
What’s ironic about that? If it works it’s good, simple as that.
This is like saying it is ironic that he use wheels or boats to transport stuff because how old those technologies are.
Is this because trains are old but not ancient? Will people be saying this about magnetic levitation in the future or fiber optics? If these technologies work right now and make sense to use, then they are just the best current solution.
This will cost a lot more than 8 billions but its much needed investment in that region
Yup
Ooh wow seems very huge project, very strategic important project
Indeed. And very damaging to our nature, too!
As a Swede, I’ve been to all three countries many times. It was complicated to get between the capitals, even harder by the coast. This will boost the region immensely, well needed. All three countries will get more tourists both from Finland and polen. Business in the capitals will boom with more connections between the countries to work as a unified region. Perhaps we’ll see the Baltic union soon.
But also raising prices of real estate and general cost of living in the capitals.
But isn't the whole point of tourism to experience how things are done in a strange place? If everywhere is the same train station, same tram, same hotel, same convenience store, same copy of another tourist trap, what's the point of tourism?
@@floycewhite6991
Hah. You do have a point. The easier it is to go around the world the less difference it is. 200 years ago it could be major differences between provinces within a country and the train came to unification.
Even more important to unification with people with cultures somewhat alike? :)
@@macjonte I'm starting to suspect that unification is a euphemism for race-mixing whites out of existence.
Haven't heard any construction new of the intui dome arena in Los Angeles.
I am so extremely exited about this.
This is my current favourite topic. Absolutely love HSR and I would have accepted a long form about this one, but I'll take what I can get 😂