Baltics want height of Rail Baltic passenger platforms to be set at 760 mm

TALLINN – In a bid to ensure that passenger transport is accessible to all user groups, the Baltic countries, following the example of the other parties in the North Sea -- Baltic Corridor, have decided to adopt 760 millimeters as the height of the passenger platform in the Rail Baltic project.

As a result of consultations with the parties involved in the North Sea -- Baltic Corridor, the aim is to achieve a uniform platform height for passengers, Ahti Kuningas, deputy secretary general for transport at the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, said in a letter to Rail Baltic Estonia.

The European Commission's regulation on railway system infrastructure allows the use of 550 millimeters and 760 millimeters as the nominal platform height in the EU railway system. The parties to the North Sea -- Baltic Corridor, including Poland and Germany, plan to use only 760 millimeters as the nominal platform height on the railways along the corridor in the future, the official said. 

A letter from the Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport at the end of November expresses support for efforts to bring passenger platforms to the same height also for Rail Baltic in the context of the development of said corridor. Due to the above, Estonia, together with Latvia and Lithuania, has decided to apply only 760 millimeters as the platform height in the Rail Baltic project.

In light of the above decision, the Ministry of Transport and Communications asks Rail Baltic Estonia to immediately implement appropriate measures to change the designs of the Ulemiste and Parnu international passenger terminals and to raise the platforms to the indicated height. It is also requests to take into account said height of platforms at all planned local stops.