Rail Baltica, the ambitious high-speed rail project connecting the Baltic states to the rest of Europe, faces a major delay in Latvia, with key portions now expected to be completed no earlier than 2035.
Despite years of planning and millions in EU funding, only 43 kilometers of the required 200 kilometers of railway have been designed in Latvia. Andris Kulbergs, head of Latvia’s parliamentary commission investigating the project, confirmed that the country will not meet the 2030 target.
Kulbergs noted that Latvia still lacks crucial project documentation, engineering designs, and financing, with a minimum of €2.7 billion required for the national portion. “As ministry officials explained to us a month ago, the section to Salaspils alone will take at least 7–8 years,” he said. “Only then will construction toward Estonia begin.”
Meanwhile, Estonian officials express cautious optimism but acknowledge the growing uncertainty. Anvar Salomets, CEO of Rail Baltic Estonia, said there is no official notification from Latvia that it will miss the 2030 deadline, and all three Baltic countries are still working toward that target. However, Estonian authorities are beginning to question the broader feasibility of cross-border service.
Concerns are also surfacing over Estonia’s plans to procure new trains. A €70 million purchase announced in April was intended to support international routes. Yet, with Latvia signaling delays, the trains might only run domestically between Tallinn and the Latvian border for the foreseeable future.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart, chair of Estonia’s parliamentary anti-corruption commission, voiced frustration:
“Estonia is spending billions to build the railway and buy trains, and it looks like they will stop at the Latvian border. Our colleagues have indicated there may be no railway from their side until 2035.”
Estonia is also reconsidering the timing of its tender for high-speed trains, which was initially expected to serve the full Rail Baltica corridor, including connections to Riga and beyond.
The planned 870 km Rail Baltica line is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the EU and is critical for linking Finland, the Baltics, and Poland via a fast and sustainable transport corridor. But the delay in Latvia could now put the entire timeline and scope of the project into question.
As the region weighs infrastructure priorities, these developments cast doubt on whether Rail Baltica will meet its cross-border mobility promise by the end of the decade.
