TALLINN — Estonian Railways has criticized the Rail Baltica project claiming it is a political plan that cannot be profitable without the addition of a line to St. Petersburg.
Rail Baltica is the train line currently under construction that will connect Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Kaunas, and Warsaw to Berlin and is part of a €3 billion project to link the Baltic[private_supervisor] states and Finland into the same train network that covers western Europe.
However, according to Urmas Glase, press spokesman of Estonian Railways the rail project won’t generate enough revenue from passengers or freight if the line doesn’t include the Russian city of St. Petersburg because it would not reach the critical volume needed.
“Rail Baltica is like the Estonian Minister of Economy Juhan Parts, a political rather than economically profitable activity,” Glase told Äripäev.
Glase suggested that freight trade and transportation of raw materials to the east is important and the capacity much more significant than in other directions.
Rail Baltica should be complete and ready to use in its initial stage by 2013. Trains will not be able to travel full speed until later when extra work will enable the trains to travel at 160 km/h on the line.[/private_supervisor][private_subscription 1 month] states and Finland into the same train network that covers western Europe.
However, according to Urmas Glase, press spokesman of Estonian Railways the rail project won’t generate enough revenue from passengers or freight if the line doesn’t include the Russian city of St. Petersburg because it would not reach the critical volume needed.
“Rail Baltica is like the Estonian Minister of Economy Juhan Parts, a political rather than economically profitable activity,” Glase told Äripäev.
Glase suggested that freight trade and transportation of raw materials to the east is important and the capacity much more significant than in other directions.
Rail Baltica should be complete and ready to use in its initial stage by 2013. Trains will not be able to travel full speed until later when extra work will enable the trains to travel at 160 km/h on the line.[/private_subscription 1 month][private_subscription 4 months] states and Finland into the same train network that covers western Europe.
However, according to Urmas Glase, press spokesman of Estonian Railways the rail project won’t generate enough revenue from passengers or freight if the line doesn’t include the Russian city of St. Petersburg because it would not reach the critical volume needed.
“Rail Baltica is like the Estonian Minister of Economy Juhan Parts, a political rather than economically profitable activity,” Glase told Äripäev.
Glase suggested that freight trade and transportation of raw materials to the east is important and the capacity much more significant than in other directions.
Rail Baltica should be complete and ready to use in its initial stage by 2013. Trains will not be able to travel full speed until later when extra work will enable the trains to travel at 160 km/h on the line.[/private_subscription 4 months][private_subscription 1 year] states and Finland into the same train network that covers western Europe.
However, according to Urmas Glase, press spokesman of Estonian Railways the rail project won’t generate enough revenue from passengers or freight if the line doesn’t include the Russian city of St. Petersburg because it would not reach the critical volume needed.
“Rail Baltica is like the Estonian Minister of Economy Juhan Parts, a political rather than economically profitable activity,” Glase told Äripäev.
Glase suggested that freight trade and transportation of raw materials to the east is important and the capacity much more significant than in other directions.
Rail Baltica should be complete and ready to use in its initial stage by 2013. Trains will not be able to travel full speed until later when extra work will enable the trains to travel at 160 km/h on the line.[/private_subscription 1 year]
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