Anyone who had been following the regular Ukraine updates here at Daily Kos may have noticed how often rail comes up. Railroads are critical for supplying troops, for moving people around (as in refugees and evacuations), and in normal commerce, such as trying to move grain to make up for the problems of getting it out via ship, and regular passenger service.
While it’s importance at the present moment during military operations can’t be overemphasized, it should also be noted that the rail system inherited by Ukraine from the Soviet Union has other strategic consequences. Because Russia uses a different gauge — the distance between the rails — than Europe, the effect has been to make it difficult for former Soviet Republics to trade with Europe. It’s one more way they were tied to the Soviet Union.
It complicates logistics for Ukraine because anything coming in or going out by rail has to be transferred to railcars that fit the track. If and when Ukraine is able to integrate into the European Union, one logical step will be regauging track to make it compatible with European standard gauge — and maybe more.
Via EuroNews, the Baltic States are embarking on an ambitious project to do just that: The high-speed railway that’s uncoupling the Baltic states from Russia and their Soviet past
The largest infrastructure project in the Baltic region for a hundred years is under way.
The 870 km Rail Baltica project will connect the capitals of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia with Warsaw and the rest of Europe, allowing trains from the continent to run uninterrupted.
However, the project is symbolic as well as physical.
For the EU, it’s a statement about the Baltic states’ return to Europe and their decoupling from their Soviet past.
It’s taken a while to get going, but it’s finally happening.
Talk of an inter-Baltic rail project has grown since the late 1990s, with a cooperation agreement being signed by Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian transport ministers in 2001.
However, it wasn’t until 2010 that a memorandum was signed by representatives of the transport ministries of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.
While it currently takes seven hours to drive from Lithuania’s capital to Estonia’s, the new line will almost halve that to just three hours and 38 minutes.
The railway will begin in Tallinn before passing through Pärnu, Rīga, Panevėžys, and Kaunas before reaching the Lithuanian-Polish border; there will also be a connection to Vilnius from Kaunas.
Once completed, trains will be able to travel up to the Baltics from Poland, with passenger trains operating at top speeds of 234 km/h.
The project is dealing with funding issues (no surprise there) and much of the funding is coming from the European Union. Another issue is that the Baltic states have a power grid that is still synchronized with Russia — plans to deal with Russia turning off the lights are being developed. The entire project has gained a bit more urgency since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In the face of growing Russian aggression, all three countries [All members of NATO] were already looking to increase interoperability with the rest of the EU, but Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has added urgency to that.
In August, the project attracted military mobility funding from Latvia’s funds, demonstrating the civil and military characteristics of the scheme.
"In the current geopolitical conditions, the strategic significance of the Rail Baltica project is increasing," Latvia’s Transport Minister said at the time.
"It is particularly important to ensure reliable connectivity with Western Europe and to fully use the new rail transport connection with Europe to increase our country’s defence capabilities".
The project completion date is 2026, barring any setbacks. Once rail service with the new connections begins, it will have a big effect on the economies of all the countries participating — beyond just military significance.
But wait — there’s more!
The plan calls for powering the rail line with renewable energy so that it helps meet EU climate goals. (The Netherlands buy enough wind power to match the power needed to run their electrified rail network.) It won’t be vulnerable to fossil fuel market manipulation by Russia or anyone else. It will also be part of a larger project to tie the European grid together.
So, win-win-win. A boost to Baltic (and EU) economies, a better strategic situation in light of military considerations, and an advance on dealing with climate issues. (The US could be doing something comparable with Solutionary Rail.) The path to a better future in the Baltics runs on rails.