OREANDA-NEWS. October 21, 2011. Rail Baltica would take fast passenger trains from Tallinn to Warsaw in just a few hours and would considerably speed up the travel times of cargo trains in the North-South direction but in order for it to be profitable, 12 million tonnes of cargo a year and several thousand passengers a day should move in the Estonian section of the pan-Baltic railway.

The average speed of the train would be 170 km an hour, maximum of 240. Trains every two hours on six days a week. Cargo train travelling the distance via Baltics in around 10 hours.

Such luxurious infrastructure is not cheap, even if EU pays 60%, which it is hoped to do. While the 12 million tonnes of cargo travelling in the rote a year is rather realistic, the number of passengers needed for it to be viable is not that realistic.

“Another side is the passenger side that in the Estonian territory speaks of 4,000 passengers a day. Which can be a rather big figure looking at today’s figures,” said Estonian economy and communications minister Juhan Parts. “New transport connections inevitably make people move; we have to keep in mind the potential passengers who start from here, Nordic, North West Russian passengers,” he said, adding that a proper connection will most likely create a demand for using it.