"Our idea is to connect all of Tallinn as a whole in a truly environmentally friendly and fast manner," Kristjan Kaunissaare, the Rail Baltic coordinator at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and a member of the so-called metro group, told Vikerraadio.

While trams, trolleybuses or buses are certainly more environmentally friendly than cars, speed is often what is lacking because all public transport in Tallinn operates on the same level as cars and light traffic. Metro means a solution completely separated from other traffic, which also brings higher connection speeds," Kaunissaare explained.

With the light metro, it would be possible to travel from Õismäe to Priisle in 25 minutes instead of 50, and from Kalamaja to Rae Municipality in 15 minutes instead of 40, claim the idea's authors. However, their proposed solution would not necessarily need to be underground.

"When people hear 'metro,' they think of trains moving through deep tunnels. In reality, metros should be seen as public transport separated from other traffic. Whether it's underground, on the ground or on an elevated track, there's actually no difference. The important thing is that there's no car traffic, no pedestrians, no traffic lights, no intersections," Kaunissaare said.

The line plan is based on previous scientific work by Jaan Jagomäe. "For example, it's necessary to connect Tallinn University of Technology with the Pelguranna and Kalamaja areas because it's difficult to get there by car and public transport. Tram traffic works, but there are traffic jams," Kaunissaare said.

The distance of the line from Lasnamäe to Õismäe would be 20 kilometers, while it would be ten kilometers between Peetri and Kalamaja. The line would go underground in the City Center. "There would need to be a tunnel solution to genuinely ensure speed," said Kaunissaare. "It's about 4.5 kilometers. These tunnels could also be used as shelters," he added.

Kaunissaare could not specify the cost of the two light metro lines, as it depends on the solution used. However, he suggested that "a ballpark of €50 million per kilometer should be a good indication where nobody is really lying. We're talking about one to one-and-a-half billion euros" he added.

"We're clearly talking loan money, at least in part. For every loan, we need to talk about collateral and the ability to repay. Tallinn's current free public transport costs €40 million a year. Certainly, if we're talking about a connection faster than taking a car, people would indeed be willing to pay for the ride," Kaunissaare explained. "Regarding collateral, we're also talking about the central and local governments having enough land to offer as collateral for loans," he added.

Kaunissaare said that what Tallinn has done with public transport is very good, but actually popularizing public transport needs a breaking point. Something completely new that would really help move people to public transport from cars, which means realistically faster connections," Kaunissaare said.

The so-called metro group includes, according to Ärileht, Andero Laur, CEO of real estate company Liven, transportation specialist Hannes Luts, Hendrik Puhkim, one of the heads of infrastructure design company Skepast & Puhkim, state official Joel Jesse, economist Enn Listra, and the chairman of the board of KMG Infra, Indrek Papli.

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