Rail Baltica

Rail Baltica is an under-construction rail infrastructure project that is intended to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network. Its purpose is to provide passenger and freight service between participating countries and improve rail connections between Central and Northern Europe, specifically the area southeast of the Baltic Sea. It is also intended as a catalyst for building the economic corridor in Northeastern Europe. The project envisages a continuous rail link with stations from Tallinn (Estonia) to Warsaw (Poland), via Riga (Latvia) and Kaunas (Lithuania), with two branches extending from the main line towards Riga International Airport and Vilnius (Lithuania). Its total length in the Baltic States is 870 kilometres (540 mi), with 213 kilometres (132 mi) in Estonia, 265 kilometres (165 mi) in Latvia, and 392 kilometres (244 mi) in Lithuania. Rail Baltica is one of the priority projects of the European Union (EU). It is part of the North Sea–Baltic Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T).

Rail Baltica will add the first large-scale mainline standard gauge railway in the region. Rail networks in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are mainly using Russian gauge (1,520 mm). These countries' first railways were built in the second half of the 19th century as part of the Russian Empire rail network. While some railways were built or converted to narrow or standard gauge in the Interwar period between World War I and World War II in the independent or German-occupied Baltic states, these were later converted back to Russian gauge under Soviet occupation rule after 1945.

According to a study produced by Ernst & Young, the measurable socio-economic benefits are estimated at €16.2 billion.^: 186 The assessed GDP multiplier effect the Rail Baltica Global Project would create is an additional €2 billion.^: 203 As of January 2020, the high-speed railway connection from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border was expected to be completed by 2026. In 2020, a private consortium claimed that it could open an undersea railway tunnel between Tallinn and Helsinki by mid-2026, but this project has been put on hold indefinitely.