The pan-European transport network announced in Tallinn – nine corridors of the future – is fruits from three intense years’ work, says Siim Kallas, European commissioner responsible for transportation, with pride in his eyes. No coincidence, that it is in Tallinn that over a thousand high-ranking transport officials and politicians gather, today, all having participated in the TEN-T preparations. The projects costs €26bn and includes Rail Baltica, cause of heated debate in Estonia.
Mr Kallas acknowledges European common market as its treasure, while pointing out a problem: its fragmented transportation network, mainly that highways – as all car-using Estonians will know – turn remarkably bad in states not overly keen on maintenance thereof. And even «more mainly» the railways and all kinds of pan-European networks of ports and inland waterways.
«In this regard, a decided stride forward has been taken. Not ideal, for sure; not final, for sure,» admitted Mr Kallas while commenting the corridors. «All corridors cover multiple countries; there are no projects here to be paid for a single country, at the end of day.»
Over the last financing period, eight billion euros were distributed towards rails, asphalt and waterways; this time it’ll be €26bn (EU transport budget for 2014-2020). «Lot’s of work done, here. This includes €11.3bn for cohesion states, I would underline, as this took tremendous battling for us to get such a sum, meant specifically to better connect Eastern and Western Europe. For us, that is very important,» said Mr Kallas.
Estonia stand to gain more than most from EU infrastructure politics, being penetrated by the North Sea Baltic Corridor improving transport connections between Finland, the Baltics and Poland. As well as Rail Baltica, allowing for train rides from Tallinn via Riga via Kaunas and Poland up to Berlin.
The new speed railway and the Via Baltica motorway running parallel to that will form skeleton to the new North-South transportation network, building a bridge to Poland and Central-Europe.
Mr Kallas esteems cross-border railway and highway networks to be very important. Ports, inland waterways and airports as well. In European eyes, it is not merely Tallinn that is important as an airport hub; Tartu, Pärnu, Kuressaare and Kärdla are vital as well. Among ports, Heltermaa, Kuivastu, Pärnu, Paldiski South Harbour (Lõunasadam), Rohuküla, Sillamäe and Virtsu are considered in addition to Tallinn.
«The above has been the most important labour and achievement, for the European Commission, not easy in coming,» acknowledged Mr Kallas. As the network plan went to parliament, 1,000 amendments were proposed. Mr Kallas praises European parliament in its support and steadfastness, at it managed to stand for the pan-European, not an overly regional philosophy.
The commissioner added that the growth of infrastructural finances, while overall budget shrunk, was result of mighty political battling. As all other wanted money too. «It’s not a large group with shiny eyed people thinking alike. The eyes indeed shine, but the thought go various ways when it comes to investment priorities,» said Mr Kallas.
TEN-T
• TEN-T stands for Trans-European Transport Network. In European railways, seven various track widths are in use; only 20 major airports and 35 major harbours have direct connections to railway.
• TEN-T Days take place for the 6th time. During the three days in Tallinn, the experts discuss ways of making traffic smoother, faster and safer for the average citizen, while considering the roles of innovation, logistics and new fuels such as LNG.