Martin-Erich Torjus, advisor at the Ministry of Climate, said that construction works in Estonia are continuing as planned.
Works are ongoing on more than 100 kilometers at the Ülemiste passenger terminal and in the Tallinn–Pärnu direction. Planning of the remaining route is also continuing.
Torjus said that when starting new construction phases, the pace will be set to avoid overheating the construction market. The works in neighboring countries and EU funding opportunities are also being taken into account.
According to Estonian plans, the Tallinn–Pärnu section will be completed by 2032, Soodevahe–Muuga by 2033, and the Pärnu–Ikla section by 2034.
Prime Minister Kristen Michal said that the works will fall into the next EU budgetary period, which is from 2028 to 2034. He stressed that Latvia should also complete its works by 2034.
Michal said that delaying the works reduces costs. Building faster would have required borrowing more money and prices would have been higher. Now construction can proceed step by step and use approximately 660 million euros more.
The prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania confirmed on Tuesday that Rail Baltica will be completed by 2034, not by 2030 as previously planned.
According to initial plans, Rail Baltica was supposed to be completed already in 2026.