"The topic has been under the purview of the infrastructure working group and opinions have been divided — some support moving forward with the Tallinn orbital railway planning, while others believe it's not worth pursuing, as it was originally designed for the old rail gauge," Minister of Regional Affairs and Infrastructure Kuldar Leis, who is not affiliated with any political party, told ERR at Thursday's government press conference.

"We reached a point where issues that lack full consensus will be resolved at the coalition council level. And I suspect there will be more such issues to come," he added.

"I can now get the monkey off my back and the coalition council can put it right back on," Leis said with a touch of humor.

Minister of the Interior Igor Taro (Eesti 200) stated that Eesti 200 wants to move forward with the planning process.

"In the long run, this challenge will arise sooner or later — the orbital railway around Tallinn needs to happen. If we don't proceed with the planning now, there's a risk that the land along the proposed route will be transferred into private ownership and it will be much more difficult to solve this problem later," Taro explained.

Prime Minister and Reform Party chair Kristen Michal gave a terse comment on the dispute surrounding the railway plan: "Work will continue in the coalition council and then we'll see whether the ring railway is actually orbital or not."

On Monday of this week, Eesti 200 vice chair Aleksei Jašin said that Eesti 200 and the Reform Party hold differing views on the Tallinn ring railway.

"Right now, we're having in-depth discussions about the orbital railway — whether to keep the option open for future construction or to go ahead and build it as a fully developed new project. Eesti 200 clearly supports rail transport and improving connections and mobility in this matter. The Reform Party has a somewhat different perspective on the Tallinn ring railway," said Jašin.

The government launched the special national plan for the Tallinn orbital railway at the beginning of 2023, aiming to determine within six years the feasibility of building a Muuga-to-Paldiski rail line bypassing Tallinn to the south.

The plan was initiated at the request of the Association of Harju County Local Governments, with the main goal of diverting freight traffic away from downtown Tallinn and toward nearby rural municipalities.

However, the usefulness of the ring railway soon came into question due to a decline in freight volumes, though proposals to cancel the project have also met with strong opposition.

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