Survey: 22 percent of citizens agree with Rail Baltic planned route
Only 22 percent of Estonian citizens are in favor of building the Rail Baltic railway in a completely new corridor in Estonia as planned by the government, while 38 percent would like to see the new track built using existing railway corridors, it appears from a survey commissioned by the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues and carried out by pollster Norstat.
The institute said that while the team of Rail Baltic regularly conducts surveys in which respondents are asked about their support for the construction of Rail Baltic in a new corridor, several civic associations are in favor of choosing a different corridor.
The latest survey by Norstat gauges the support of residents for the construction of Rail Baltic in the currently planned form as well as for potential alternatives.
Respondents were asked about their preference as regards the options for the construction of Rail Baltic. The options that could be chosen were "To build Rail Baltic in a new corridor in all of Estonia," "To build Rail Baltic by straightening existing railways," "Not to build Rail Baltic" and "Cannot say."
The option of building Rail Baltic by straightening existing railway corridors was chosen by 38 percent, a brand new corridor by 22 percent, and not building Rail Baltic at all by 18 percent. Respondents who had no opinion made up 22 percent.
Norstat conducted the survey from Dec. 2-9 by interviewing 1,000 Estonian citizens aged 18 and above.
--
Download the ERR News app for Android and iOS now and never miss an update!
Editor: Helen Wright