Description
Description (EN): The project will create comprehensive assessment of FinEst Transport Link and a plan for the future fixed link between Helsinki and Tallinn. The vision of the fixed link is already a reality. It has been discussed by experts, politicians and the general public for 20 years. The pre-feasibility study in TalsinkiFIX Seed Money project presented a result that the vision might be also technically and economically possible. All actors involved in Helsinki-Tallinn transports already have to take this vision into account when planning new investments.
The project focuses in wider Finnish-Estonian perspective, European TEN-T perspective, transport technology development, environmental aspects and in changing socio-economic context of the emerging twin-city region. Assessment and development of the fixed link option and its’ impacts pave the way for deeper integration of regional economies, twin-city and regional co-operation, and for achieving better integration in the multimodal cross-border transport systems with significant impact on lowering the CO2 emissions.
The project will look and explore the required development needs of traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn in the long run. As a main result it will create preconditions and strategy for 80% saving on travel time of passengers and cargo in Helsinki-Tallinn link. The project will complement and support actions in other related projects by outlining, analyzing and assessing the fixed link. It will also assess alternative ways of developing transport operations and physical infrastructures in the era of digitalization of mobility.
The partnership is based on trilateral cross-border cooperation: cities responsible of actual transport nodes, regions responsible of regional spatial planning, including transport networks, and the state authorities responsible of national transport policy development and representing national interests towards TEN-T policies.
Read more Achievements (EN): Helsinki-Tallinn Railway Tunnel would connect Nordic country Finland to its neighboring Baltic country Estonia and create an 85 to 100-kilometers long undersea rail tunnel between Helsinki and Tallinn to create a new metropolitan area, twin-city between two capitals.
If Finest link Smart Mobility project ever finishes, it would be the longest undersea railway tunnel in the world. The total costs would be around 7 to 20 billion euros.
Vital connection from the North to rest of Europe.
Currently, passengers traveling between 2 countries need to use a ferry service, which takes around 2 hours.
With the Helsinki-Tallinn Railway Tunnel, time spend traveling could be cut to only 30 minutes and would also serve commuters between Finland and Estonia.
Every year eight million journeys are made by ferry each year, including both leisure cruises and scheduled commuter services. Traveling overland between two cities required around 800-kilometre-long journey through Russia. Each year there are also 300,000 air trips done between capitals.
The Helsinki-Tallinn railway tunnel wouldn’t also make traveling easier. The bigger plan would be to connect this railway to Rail Baltica, which is a railway connection from Tallinn to Lithuania to the border of Poland. From Poland, railways connect to Berlin, Germany.
The Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas was especially glad about the plan. He has said that he is happy that the final stop of Rail Baltica should not be Tallinn but Helsinki.
Integrating the tunnel to TEN-T would serve as a new freight gateway to Europe and make two capitals a twin-city.
Inspiration from Sweden and Denmark.
Finland has always been alone with other European countries with its rail traffic. Therefore, the Helsinki-Tallinn Tunnel would open the door to Finland and improve its competitiveness, as well as promote tourism to the Baltics.
One of the reasons also for connecting Helsinki and Tallinn with the tunnel connection is to create a twin-city and metropolitan area for the people in the same way as the Øresund Bridge between Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden.
The tunnel would also be of great importance for tourism in both countries. It is estimated that the number of passengers The volume of passenger traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn would increase to as much as 23 million per year, including ferry traffic between the countries.
The Helsinki-Tallinn Tunnel would not only serve tourism purposes but also significantly reduce emissions from both ship and truck traffic in both cities. Therefore, the European Union has given a green light for the project.
But who is to build it?
The latest update on the Helsinki-Tallinna Tunnel is from April 2021, when Finland’s Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka and Estonia’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas signed Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two countries. The MoU will be in force until 2030.
This tunnel has not only caught attention because of its plans to connect these two cities, but it has gained more attention for this plan’s third prominent actor, Peter Vesterbacka.
Vesterbacka is known as the man behind the legendary Angry Birds game, although he left the mobile gaming company Rovio in 2016. He’s been the biggest visionary on the Helsinki-Tallinn Tunnel project together with his company Finest Bay Area Development.
Estonia says no to private projects.
Not everyone’s been happy about Vesterbacka’s and his private company’s plan to build a railway connection between Helsinki and Tallinn.
In 2020, Estonia rejected the Vesterbacka project application, citing “environmental, economic and safety reasons”.
Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Taavi Aas has stated that in his opinion the tunnel can only be built by the state. However, he does not rule out the possibility that private actors could not be involved in the tunnel project.
One of the biggest issues for the states is that Vesterbacka’s project would be funded mostly by Chinese companies. He has admitted that this has raised eyebrows and questions, but he doesn’t see it as a problem long as ownership of the project remains in Finland and Estonia.
Vesterbacka told the Finnish news media that “even if the money comes from North Korea, it does not matter as long as the majority stake in all phases of the project remains in Finland and Estonia”.
The Finest Bay Area Development’s Helsinki-Tallinn Tunnel would be built by China Railway International Group, together with energy company China Power and construction company China Construction Company.
Finest Bay Project Development is not the only private operator to have designed a tunnel in the Gulf of Finland.
Estonian Toomas Peterson has announced that he will build a tunnel called Ankurtunnel between the countries with private money.
Hyperloop Talsinki is a project led by Stanislav Popkov and supported by Virgin Hyperloop One, which has been proposed to replace the traditional rail tunnel. Hyperloop is a fast way to transport people and goods in a vacuum or tube-operated capsule. It would make it possible to travel the distance between the two cities in 8 minutes.
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Website: http://centralbaltic.eu/
Expected Results (EN): R3.1. Travel time of passengers
Expected Outputs (EN): The Project’s contribution to the result indicators have to be seen in long perspective. Setting preconditions to reach the target of removing the bottleneck between Finland and Estonia in the long run when the fixed link and the fast rail connection is in operation, will reduce travel time of passengers from 2,5 hours to even 30 minutes, i.e. ultimately 80% reduction. Similarly the capacity in cargo transportation is very big in shortening delivery times when the fixed train link is in operation. The fixed link traffic is expected to triple in the first 10 years from 5 to 15 million trips and ferry transportation is expected to maintain its position and volumes. Potentially 25 000 daily commuters, 5 million business and leisure trips, 1.3 million passenger cars and 8.4 million tons of cargo is expected after first 10 years of operation.
The impact on transport flows of goods can be considerable also in short run. A clear prospect of the fixed link encourages transport operators to develop their offers and transportation chains based on Rail Baltica (operative for cargo in 2017).
The results of the studies, assessments and benchmarks conducted in the project, and the participatory process of stakeholders pave the way for the next steps in the long process of decision making, planning, and designing the fixed link. These activities are required as part of the comprehensive transport assessment and a plan which are the main result of the Project for the political decision-makers.
The plan and strategy for decision-makers made by the Project will reduce uncertainty on long term transport and mobility options and developments in the cross-border region. A strategy and decision-making without well-grounded conclusions based on feasibility studies on the fixed link would not reduce risks and uncertainties faced by the investors in the transport sector. By reducing uncertainty the project contributes in short term improvements in passenger transports.
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Thematic information
Specific Objective:
Improved transport flows of people and goods
Thematic Objective:
(07) promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures by:
Investment Priority:
(07c) developing and improving environmentally-friendly (including low-noise) and low-carbon transport systems, including inland waterways and maritime transport, ports, multimodal links and airport infrastructure, in order to promote sustainable regional and local mobility
Partners (7)
Lead Partner:
Uudenmaan liitto
Address:
Esterinportti 2 B, 240 Helsinki, Finland
Legal status:
public
Website:
http://www.uudenmaanliitto.fi
Total budget:
EUR 372 883.33
ERDF budget:
EUR 279 662.50
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Liikennevirasto
-
Name:
Liikennevirasto
Address:
PL 33 (Opastinsilta) 12 A, 521 Helsinki, Finland
Legal status:
public
Website:
http://www.liikennevirasto.fi
Total budget:
EUR 205 000.00
ERDF budget:
EUR 153 750.00
-
Harju Maavalitsus
-
Name:
Harju Maavalitsus
Address:
Roosikrantsi 12, 15077 Tallinn, Estonia
Legal status:
public
Website:
http://harju.maavalitsus.ee
Total budget:
EUR 96 872.57
ERDF budget:
EUR 82 341.68
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Tallinna Transpordiamet
-
Name:
Tallinna Transpordiamet
Address:
Vabaduse Väljak 10 A, 10146 Tallinn, Estonia
Legal status:
public
Website:
http://www.tallinn.ee
Total budget:
EUR 161 500.00
ERDF budget:
EUR 137 275.00
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Harjumaa Omavalitsuste Liit
-
Name:
Harjumaa Omavalitsuste Liit
Address:
Sirge 2, 10618 Tallinn, Estonia
Legal status:
public
Website:
http://www.hol.ee
Total budget:
EUR 74 627.43
ERDF budget:
EUR 63 433.32
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Eesti Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium
-
Name:
Eesti Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium
Department:
Transport Development and Investments Department
Address:
Harju 11, 15072 Tallinn, Estonia
Legal status:
public
Website:
http://www.mkm.ee
Total budget:
EUR 204 500.00
ERDF budget:
EUR 173 825.00
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Helsingin kaupunki
-
Name:
Helsingin kaupunki
Department:
Economic Development
Address:
PL 1 (Pohjois-Esplanadi) 11-13, 99 Helsinki, Finland
Legal status:
public
Website:
http://www.helsinki.fi
Total budget:
EUR 183 000.00
ERDF budget:
EUR 137 250.00
