The port of Tallinn found an agreement with the Estonian government for the sale of eight properties, totalling 165,000 square metres, where the future Rail Baltica terminal in the Muuga harbour will be built. The deal was sealed for 4,84 million euros.
The Muuga harbour, part of the Port of Tallinn Group, is Estonia’s largest freight port and has an extensive rail network. The implementation of Rail Baltica is expected to further boost rail freight in the facility, and the port expects to significantly benefit from the sale of land to the Estonian state.
“Considering the location and the shape of transferable properties, it is unlikely that an alternative use of these properties would have generated significant sales revenue in the long term”, the group said. In the context of Rail Baltica, a new intermodal terminal will be built in Muuga. Together with similar facilities in Salaspils (near Riga, Latvia) and Palemonas (near Kaunas, Lithuania) the terminal in Muuga will constitute the logistics backbone of the line.
Rail Baltica
The ongoing construction of the Rail Baltica line, which will cross Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania connecting the Baltics to the standard gauge rail network, is not always a smooth process. Most of the issues concern funding, as it is a multi-billion euros initiative. Latvia seems to be the country facing the most issues, with concern over the plan and even threats to abandon the project due to lack of funding.
However, the importance of the project is ever growing, especially considering the current geopolitical tensions regarding Russia and the European Union. Having an infrastructure which allows the quick movement of military assets has become a prerogative in the Old Continent, and the difference in gauge (1520 mm in the Baltics and 1435 in most of the rest of Europe) is a significant obstacle. With Rail Baltica, this obstacle should be removed, but the finish line still seems quite far.
