The agreement specifies the obligations of the involved states in building the Rail Baltic railway as well as the general technical parameters of the project. The railway’s future route is set out in the agreement as well.

The international agreement is necessary. While each country involved has its own company in place that will plan and build the railway, there are certain issues that need to be settled bilaterally wherever the route crosses borders.

Future ownership of the railway’s infrastructure and land is also regulated in the agreement, along with the conditions how the project is financed.

The total cost of the works on Estonian territory is projected to total €1.3 billion, of which Estonia's own contribution is €250 million euros. Up to 85 percent of the Rail Baltic project funding will come from the Connecting Europe Facility.

The prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania signed the agreement in January. The government supported it and passed it on to the Riigikogu for ratification in late April. Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Center) called Rail Baltic “a good project for the Estonian economy, people and connections”.