Anvar Salomets, chair of the board of Rail Baltic Estonia, said that if all goes according to plan, construction of the main Rail Baltica route could begin as early as this autumn in Harju County, where the contractor will be responsible for the section of the route beginning at the Ülemiste terminal.

"We certainly intend to issue at least a couple extra tenders for sections of the main route early this year," he said.

Tenders are being accepted until March 16 for the construction of Harju County's first main railway line. The cost is estimated to be €24 million.

The building phase will span 4,8 kilometers from the eastern side of the Ülemiste station to the Lagedi tee intersection in Soodevahe, Rae municipality. In addition, a partial embankment of the Ülemiste passenger terminal and the embankment of the planned passenger car loading station will be built. In this road segment, the breadth of the mainline embankment will range between 14 and 20 meters.

In addition to the railway embankment, work will be done on drainage, duct access, land improvement systems, retaining walls, and the relocation of utility networks, as well as a tunnel in the railway embankment for small animals.

Salomets said that around 30 kilometers of Rail Baltica's main line could be completed this year. This means that by the first half of 2024, around 40 kilometres of Rail Baltica would already be in construction.

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