Finns interested in building Rail Baltica

TALLINN - Finnish state railway company VR Group is interested in building the Rail Baltica railway line, writes Eesti Paevaleht.
Group Vice President Otto Lehtipuu who on Friday participated in the “Transport Visions of the Eastern Shore of the Baltic Sea” conference held in Tallinn says that the Rail Baltica project was an important one for the Finnish state and VR Group in particular.

Lehtipuu said that new connections to Central Europe were important for Finland. “In this respect Finland is like an island. Any connections that shorten travel time to Central Europe are good,” he added.
Speaking of the cargo business, Lehtipuu said that these were changing times. Shipping on the Baltic Sea will soon become much more expensive when ship owners are forced to start using less polluting fuel.
About Rail Baltica, Lehtipuu admitted that the project was very interesting for the group.

“VR Group has its infrastructure-building part, VR-Track, that has 150 years of experience in building railways. Examples of high-speed railway lines are the Allegro that connects Helsinki with St Petersburg and whose Finnish section was built by VR Group. VR-Track also has experience from the Baltic countries and Sweden. If such a project is in the pipeline, we are naturally very interested,” he said.

Regarding Rail Baltica’s potential, Lehtipuu said that it has certain potential for holiday travel, but businessmen need a suitable timetable. “An overnight express train to Berlin could be a good option,” said Lehtipuu.