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Central Europe
March 17, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel seen possible within five years
bne IntelliNews
A planned undersea tunnel to connect Tallinn with Helsinki could be built within five years thanks to favourable geological conditions of the seabed, Finnish media reported on March 15, citing expert opinions.
Estonia and Finland have long planned to improve transport between their respective capitals. The existing ferry route linking the cities takes as long as two hours. An undersea rail tunnel could cut the time to just 30 minutes, and in turn help create an integrated trans-boundary urban region – dubbed Talsinki – supporters of the project claim.
The 80-kilometre tunnel would additionally strengthen tourism traffic from Finland to
Estonia. Finns are traditionally the biggest visitor group to Estonia, making up 46% of all foreign tourism to the Baltic state in 2016.
Because the seabed between Tallinn and Helsinki is mostly made of hard rock, it should be relatively easy to drill at a sustained pace of up to a “few dozen kilometres a year,” an expert from Finland’s geological survey told the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.
When construction could start is a different matter, however, with estimates of around a decade. The cost of the tunnel is estimated at €9bn-13bn.