NationStates Jolt Archive

one day,i scrolled through news on my cell phone and then i saw that they are beginning to plan a railway system from Helsinki,Tallinn,Riga,Kaunas andWarsaw all the way to Berlin.
they are also planning to build an underwater tunnel linking Helsinki and Tallinn.i think this is a great idea,i like to go with the train and this way i can go easily to Germany.(not that i'd have anything special to do in Germany)what do you think about the ralway system?Here's the website:http://www.rail-baltica.net/pub/

I think that's a good idea. I live in Estonia and we see many Finnish tourists, who come to Tallinn just to buy alcohol, since it is much more expensive in Finland. It will boost our economy, since moving between Helsinki and Tallinn becomes much easier. :)

I think that's a good idea. I live in Estonia and we see many Finnish tourists, who come to Tallinn just to buy alcohol, since it is much more expensive in Finland. It will boost our economy, since moving between Helsinki and Tallinn becomes much easier. :)

yeah,the finns.all they come to Estonia is cheap booze

how long would the tunnel have to be?

how long would the tunnel have to be?

across the Gulf of Finland.here's a map:http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/gulffin.gif

across the Gulf of Finland.here's a map:http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/gulffin.gif
i know where it IS just not how far it is.

more than 50km is kinda long. i dont see how the enormous expense can be justified.

i know where it IS just not how far it is.

more than 50km is kinda long. i dont see how the enormous expense can be justified.

easy.they'll say,''you'll get cheap booze faster''

across the Gulf of Finland.here's a map:http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/gulffin.gif

It was totally iced over when I was there, is it like that all year round? Maybe you could just lay a track on top of it, or is the ice not thick enough?

It was totally iced over when I was there, is it like that all year round? Maybe you could just lay a track on top of it, or is the ice not thick enough?

no,it isn't frozen all year.the gulf stream keeps it warm

wiki says that the tunnel would be 80 kilometers long:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_to_Tallinn_Tunnel

wiki says that the tunnel would be 80 kilometers long:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_to_Tallinn_Tunnel
that would be SOOO expensive to build!

how likely is it to be built?

that would be SOOO expensive to build!

how likely is it to be built?

there was a link to a feasibility study in the wiki aticle but i'm gonna post the link here:http://www.hel.fi/wps/wcm/connect/525597004a17257184bfec3d8d1d4668/HT-tunnel.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=525597004a17257184bfec3d8d1d4668(it's in finnish and english)

Can't recall a civil engineering thread happening in ages, if at all!

Can't see why it would be necessary though, surely it would be easier and cheaper to route the northern part around the Gulf of Finland through Russia, and also get into the Russian market while we're at it? Especially considering that Finalnd is already connected to the European 'mainland' through the Swedish-Danish Øresund Bridge/Tunnel.

Here's (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/4121001.stm) another one, if you're interested.

there was a link to a feasibility study in the wiki aticle but i'm gonna post the link here:http://www.hel.fi/wps/wcm/connect/525597004a17257184bfec3d8d1d4668/HT-tunnel.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=525597004a17257184bfec3d8d1d4668(it's in finnish and english)
noooo i dont mean feasible. i mean will the powers-that-be want it so much that they will allocate enough money to build it?

its a very cool project--i would love to take a berlin-to-helsinki train trip--but is there enough political pull to get it done?

noooo i dont mean feasible. i mean will the powers-that-be want it so much that they will allocate enough money to build it?

its a very cool project--i would love to take a berlin-to-helsinki train trip--but is there enough political pull to get it done?

well,the tunnel project is driven by the cities not the respective ministries

They could ask the Russians to finance it. After all, when the New Russian Empire invades Finland they'll probably use it as a troop transportation system.

They could ask the Russians to finance it. After all, when the New Russian Empire invades Finland they'll probably use it as a troop transportation system.

the russkies won't invade Finland,we shall beat them with sisu(sisu can't really be translated.here's a wiki article on the subject:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu)

You crazy Europeans and your trains. You all should just buy these.
http://www.losangelesexoticlimos.com/images/20%20passenger%20INFINITI%20QX56%20Stretch%20SUV%20Limousine.jpg

one day,i scrolled through news on my cell phone and then i saw that they are beginning to plan a railway system from Helsinki,Tallinn,Riga,Kaunas andWarsaw all the way to Berlin.
they are also planning to build an underwater tunnel linking Helsinki and Tallinn.i think this is a great idea,i like to go with the train and this way i can go easily to Germany.(not that i'd have anything special to do in Germany)what do you think about the ralway system?Here's the website:http://www.rail-baltica.net/pub/

I've been following this project for a while. It's an excellent proposal. Hopefully the line will be built with a view to making it interoperable with the Thalys. A Baltic-German high speed link would be an excellent boost to the region and really help with integration.

i know where it IS just not how far it is.

more than 50km is kinda long. i dont see how the enormous expense can be justified.

The EU has been investing heavily in upgrading international and trans-European rail links for a while now. The Channel Tunnel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_tunnel) and Oresund Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oresund_bridge) are only the most visible examples of this. The Thalys (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalys) and EuroCity rail projects have also been implement with EU help, and the CityNightLine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CityNightLine) isn't strictly and EU project but is still super sweet, it's the most civilized way to travel in northern Europe.

Channel Tunnel aside though, the UK outside of London is so far behind in transport it's not even funny :rolleyes: