A requirement of the entry of the Baltic countries to the EU was to bring the state of transport infrastructure in line with the requirements of the integration group. For the purpose of integrating the Baltic States into a common European space, a transport strategy was developed for the Baltic Sea Region in the early 1990s. The main goal of this study is to research the advantages and disadvantages of Rail Baltica’s (RB) implementation and its prospects for the Baltic States and Russia. The authors applied logical analysis, a comparative method to the primary information. A SWOT-analysis was carried out to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the project, as well as the opportunities and threats of its realisation. The main goals of RB are the development of high quality passenger and freight transportation between the Baltic States and other European countries (via a transport node in Warsaw with a route to Berlin) and the encouragement of regional development in Poland and the Baltic States. Construction of the Rail Baltica railway will extend the capacity of cargo transport on the railway and develop freight traffic to/from European countries (via a new freight route North – South), it may also reduce travel time, traffic flow on ViaBaltica, Polish and German motorways as well, and ecological friendly rail transport will be developed. Thus, there will be new opportunities to develop transport and logistics services and tourism too. Via Rail Baltica is intended to transport at least 13 million tons of cargos and five million passengers a year. [From the publication]
Translated title of the contributionЕвропейский транспортный проект Рейл Балтика: перспективы для стран Балтии и России
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)20-35
JournalHumanities and social sciences Latvia
Volume25
Issue number2
StatePublished - 2017

    Research areas

  • Baltic States, Interregional trade, Rail Baltica

ID: 97763377