The EU’s €5.8BN Railway to Secure Europe

[@FuturologyChannel]

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[@QuizmasterLaw]

God I am SO looking forward to the Warsaw-Tallinn line!!

[@mehmeh1234]

Futurology how can your comment be 11 hours ago even though your video is only 40 minutes ago posted?

[@AB-zl4nh]

Hello, your map treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@hezekiahwallace2412]

You should look into the Coos Bay Oregon container terminal port projects.

[@AB-zl4nh]

​@@QuizmasterLaw The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@WYKlaure]

I love that the latvian transport minister is just a building.

[@AB-zl4nh]

The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@CyFr]

Did you see the blurred archeologist at 9:15?

[@lievenz7167]

@@AB-zl4nh no you're wrong. You can see clearly the border between Russia and Crimea. Obviously it showed Ukraine was attacked from there cus it was already occupied by russia

[@AB-zl4nh]

​@@lievenz7167 Why is the crimera region given the same shade of blue as Russia? Look again, it is a poorly designed map.

[@TobiasTHolmes]

​@@AB-zl4nh The baltic states are in block colour, that kind of striping as an alternative indicates occupation, and (as Lievenz mentioned) they have drawn a border on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides of Crimea. Further, the point of the map is to illustrate the Russian invasion, not showing Crimea as a part of the Russian territory from which the invasion came would not only be counterproductive, but false. Finally, if you are offended by the perception of this channel being against Ukraine with this map, there are three general considerations for the illustration of disputed territories: 1) The de facto state of things is usually more useful and representative for a 2D political illustration, the way things are, rather than de jure, the way things should be. Claims are not usually shown, particularly showing all claims of not actively disputed territory would horribly clutter things beyond the reasonable capabilities of the medium. 2) If it is incorporated into one of the claimants, and not actively disputed, with a stable border for some years, then it is in practice entirely a territory of that claimant that holds it, and the other a foreign power that may attempt to (re)claim it some years later. The legality of a claimant holding a territory regards reason to stop them holding the territory, de jure, but is irrelevant to a factual representation of whether they do at any one time, de facto. 3) If you first consider a map does not sufficiently indicate the disputed nature of a territory, consider: -the information the map has been made to convey -how essential the individual point is to the core subject matter -the preservation of visual simplicity for info-graphics -the assumed understanding This channel has deliberately gone beyond the most simplistic de facto representation, specifically, and exclusively, to represent the disputed territory of Crimea.

[@paradoxal69420]

I am a simple lithuanian. I see Latvia and/or Estonia - I upvote.

[@NeblogaiLT]

The link from Vilnius/Kaunas to Klaipėda (not mentioned here) is going to be huge too!

[@maartinhs]

@@NeblogaiLT Zalgiris might need even bigger arena :D

[@AB-zl4nh]

The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation, and mass murder. Why has this channel?

[@HasPotato]

Can't wait! I (Latvian) do a lot of business with Lithuania, Estonia and Poland, it will be so convenient to go to Kaunas or Vilnius from Riga in 1 and half hours instead of 4 by car and also not to fly by plane to Warsaw but use the train. This project will also greatly increase the logistical capacity of our region, seeing how we will be able to receive goods from Western Europe by rail instead of everything coming by truck. Can't wait!

[@eclecticaro]

Way to go. People are still not aware planes are the biggest polluters. In Poland we have great public transport and cycle paths everywhere..and still dumb people prefer to use mostly their cars.

[@ExodentalCADAcademyofNorth]

Totally agree. Would be so easy to go back and forth.

[@iggyblitz8739]

Absolutely !!, I predict it will be an economic game changer for the Baltic/ Finnish region, it will have huge positive ramifications.

[@Swarmah]

this trains ticket will be around 8-9 times the price of plane ticket tho. You can fly to warsaw for 10-20 euros, the price for this train ticket there will be around 100 eur.

[@ExodentalCADAcademyofNorth]

@@Swarmah yes, it's 20€ if you take flight from Riga (RIX) but in Lithuania after pandemic crash our air travel network collapsed and was blown back to 2000s level. I would agree to pay 100-150 Tallinn-Warsaw route. But For Kaunas-Riga I think it should be in nowadays inflation max to 50.

[@TheKingTiger96]

I am from Italy. The amount of money the Baltics plan to spend for a rail line connecting FOUR countries is about the same we plan to spend to connect Sicily with the Italian mainland... Just counting the bridge, without any connection. Definitely worth it

[@TarpgalaktinisShvancas]

Baltics not Balkans

[@brodday]

@@TarpgalaktinisShvancas that's what they said

[@roadent217]

To be fair, I would imagine bridges to be quite expensive compared to just the electrified rail.

[@mattia8327]

The sicily bridge is literally impossible. 😅 The island moves a couple of centimiters every year towards mainland italy, on top of that there are VERY strong winds and it is VERY deep in between.

[@mattia8327]

In italy we should focus on improving our ports and conencting our fairly good train network with the rest of europe. Which we are slowly doing. (The Genoa port expansion has begun last week) and a high speed rail from Milan to Lyon (which would be the longest railway tunnel ever constructed) is currently being constructed.

[@ruinerblodsinn6648]

I am so looking forward to finally taking a train through the Baltics. This will be a massive boost to the region!

[@AB-zl4nh]

The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@PutsOnSneakers]

You can already do that. Just need to switch train when reaching the Baltics

[@filipe5722]

​@@AB-zl4nh The channel has recognized that Crimea is occupied, not that it's part of Russia, as proven by the fact that the map shows a border between Crimea and Russia.

[@xxxatarixxx]

yeah. as an Estonian. It truly is a hassle getting to kaunas. 10h by bus/car or 200€ for a plane ticket. So close yet so far away.

[@PutsOnSneakers]

@@pierce9019 he's trolling with war mongering propaganda all over the comment section.

[@larshansson9814]

As a EU tax payer I like these type of projects. Will benefit cooperation and economic development

[@davidlally592]

And in another strongly pro EU state (Ireland), already plans are being made to upgrade the main express rail line between Belfast, in the (non EU) UK and Ireland' s capital Dublin. The existing joint NIR/IE "Enterprise" rail stock (yes the train service has been called that since 1946 - long before S/Trek etc) will soon need to be replaced. Oh and both rail systems in Ireland (NI Railways and IE/Irish Rail) use the same, almost unique in the world, rail running gauge (5ft 3 ins/1600mm).

[@atharvaveda87]

I only wish that all this common projects that we Europeans build together will only bring us closer and make the bounds we have stronger.

[@tubz]

I wish American taxpayers would be as excited about trains as you are. We don't even have a single High-Speed rail train and the whole country

[@Cl0ckcl0ck]

Same. Even people in Greece or Portugal will benefit in the long run (a little). As a Dutchie we pay the highest net per capita into the EU but I'm sure we'll make our part of the EU contribution back in no time through the freight part. The wellness improvement for our citizens from tourism will just be a bonus. And a more wealthy Baltic will mean our relative EU contribution will shrink. 3 wins for us from the other side of the EU. Rather funny how a group of 27 constantly bickering nations can get these infrastructure projects done while the single country US keeps failing at such infrastructure projects.

[@atharvaveda87]

@@Cl0ckcl0ck I think that in the end after many wars and 2 ww our leaders finally understand we are better and stronger together… So no matter the bickering we are like a big dysfunctional family that in the end gets the sh*t done. I only hope and wish and pray that we all get to raise our children in peace and prosperity (good housing good healthy food good education and medical support) like we were so lucky to have been raised. Sometimes we forget to be grateful for what we had and still have.

[@Jompe69]

PLS PLS PLS I really hope Finland can now build a train tunnel from Helsinki to Tallinn. Imagine how huge this would be.

[@hape3862]

Ask the Danes for help, they are building one to Germany at the moment.

[@freyjasvansdottir9904]

Just think how cool it would be if it would only take 20 minutes to get from Tallinn to Helsinki

[@jeckjeck3119]

@@freyjasvansdottir9904 United Europe would be a step closer.

[@oicfas4523]

Yeah, that is such a cool idea. Very jealous of a nice under water international rail link. We can barely even get passenger rail where I am (although to be fair it's a massive country compared to Europe).

[@fredslipknot9]

That would be great for both Finland & the Baltic states, as well as the EU and NATO. I really hope it happens soon.

[@69thSniffingBrigade]

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are 3 great neighbours. Me as Estonian, I'm super existed about this project!

[@surgeon9039]

Was you (or your parents) existed about destruction of industry in your countries by EU to get rid of competitors?

@@surgeon9039 People got cheap large industrial estates after the abolition of the collective labour system and because they were poor they all wanted quick money. Since they were no longer controlled by the state, but outsiders did not understand this, many imagined that a controlling institution had ruined everything, but in fact it was the communist-converted businessmen who quickly got money and influence in the new system.

[@surgeon9039]

@ Huh? Nope. Its more simple. Baltic states were heavily industrialized, especially compared to its size. Want to dance with EU? Obey EU. Since you have a very developed industrial sector Germany says, and we want to be the industrial core of EU, you will do this that and that, we will print money for you, no fees and free trade for our goods and no competition. Communist businessmen or just simply - corrupted elite, like everywhere else, got ez money from selling all this stuff.

[@MeTubeUser]

Slava Estonia ❤

[@ES-rg]

@@surgeon9039 Who cares about industrial sector if Estonia has largest gdp per Capita in Post Soviet countries? We live in financialized world not industrail anymore, learn some basic 21th century economics and come back

[@Abcflc]

It is mind-blowing for me as a Berliner, to be able to go to these countries by train! so excited!

[@blueeyedbaer]

You can already do it. Standard gauge already goes all the way from Warsaw to Kaunas in Lithuania.

[@kapilchhabria1727]

Haha I can’t even go from Austin to Houston by train…

[@Abcflc]

@@blueeyedbaer I would assume that there are not direct and or fast trains for such a trip at the moment.

[@blueeyedbaer]

@@Abcflc No, but there are indirect trains

[@LMB222]

You call already go by train. Poland has a gauge changing train (like Spain does)

[@mnessenche]

The EU should unite all their public transport and expand it

[@paulh.9526]

They are trying. It's just that there are I think 4 rail gages, a good dozen of electrical tensions, and another dozen signal systems, because history. This project takes trillions, and requires the unanimous approval of 27 countries at every stage.

[@sagichnicht6748]

The gage is by far not the biggest issue even. The vast majority of the EU rail network is standard gauge and on the Iberian peninsula for example where the general network isn't, the HSR network is nonetheless. With Rail Baltica the same will be the case soon in the Baltics too. Finland and Ireland have some broad gauge too but are also very isolated railway wise. With electrical standards and track control we have two issues that are a much bigger stumbling block and indeed a lot of money and effort is going into addressing them.

[@paulh.9526]

@Sag Ichnicht If I recall correctly, standard gage is also the smallest, so converting to standard is simpler than the other way around

[@petouser]

Just imagine a giant railway connection from Helsinki to Lisbon. Going quickly at 300 kph with something like a TGV Duplex (or TGV M).

[@theteamxxx3142]

@@petouser in italy we are upgrading heavily for rails both for connecting better the south and for connecting italy to everything else . Right now milan-paris is like 7 hours in the future it will be only 3

[@Cnuxik]

As Latvian im looking forward for Rail Baltica! One of most exiting project in Baltic's in 21st century.

[@viz12345]

but why appointing buildings for position of a minister?

[@Cnuxik]

@@viz12345 As we got whole government organization as Ministry of Transport with head guy named Janis Vitebergs technically of minister of transport.

[@RicardoMartinez-oh9sq]

The Baltic nations pose a danger to the world, not Russia.

[@lafourmiedesbois5901]

As a european I am delighted. Estonia happiness is mine. Did you know? The EU is commited for 14 similar mega projects. There were some delays due to covid 19 and war stressing world's ressources supplies and logisitics but we we will prevail.

[@franekkonopka333]

Ponary Polish genoside?

[@martinlatvian5538]

My sister as a geologist has been working on this project for more than 2 years. They did thousands of core sample drills into the ground and examine the soil in labratory to understand what kind of foundation must be built. In Latvia the railway will go over a lot of swampy wet grounds. It is 21st century. Today people actually do science before they build railways.

[@lauris5275]

Latvija jau mēnesi atpakaļ paziņoja, ka izmaksas būs par 6 vai pat vairāk miljardiem nekā paredzēts. Kā domā, kad viņi pabeigs?

[@vulc1]

Shouldn't you be called Martins?

[@martinlatvian5538]

@@vulc1 Mārtiņš

[@u1zha]

@@lauris5275 Jo ātrāk, jo labāk. Kādu atbildi gaidīji? Kopīgu paņaudēšanu #vissirslikti laikam

[@thomasjohnson2862]

I visited the Baltics last year, taking a long bus to get from Warszawa to Vilnius. I could see the mentioned Riga station construction when I was there. I’m just excited to see Europe and the Baltic states improve the infrastructure, that it can help their economies move forward, and help further connect Europe in general. I’ll have to go back when the line is in action!

[@nikitalukasins3531]

I am a citizen of Latvia, and I tell you gor sure that the biggest part of reasonable population understands that it is an enormously big money laundering. Thats funny that they managed to make such big decision, considering a fact that they couldn't agree on Riga's budget around half a year 😂. I look forward to see the end of this project in 50 years 😂😂, with 85% of disappeared EU money

[@crimson5664]

There is a project called Via Carpatia too. The goal is to connect Helsinki and Baltic States through Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria up to Greece by express roads. Imagine now the rail road like that. Fast trains are the future of transport in Europe. Mark my words

[@mareka3740]

Here in Poland construction works concentrate on the Warsaw-Białystok (our 10th biggest city) line. The first part, some 110 kilometres long, is already finished including a brand new bridge over the Bug river. Currently some 65 kilometres of railway towards Białystok are being modernized (including a new bridge over the Narew river) as well as train stations and rail junctions in Białystok and Ełk.

[@Hession0Drasha]

That's really cool. I can normally only find information on the part in the baltic states online in english. Wasn't actually sure if the polish part was going to be finished by 2030. Are there any other hsr projects in poland? Maybe warsaw to krakow to budapest? 😊

[@bigt6665]

one day i want to move to poland it seems like a nice growing economy that will be like germany. i live in the UK

[@Hession0Drasha]

@@bigt6665 bellow 0⁰ in winter though

[@adm_o1019]

@@Hession0Drasha There are pendolinos there but I don't know if 200km/h could be called high speed trains :)

[@Hession0Drasha]

@@adm_o1019 i wouldn't. I think the minimum is 250?

[@sic22l]

Polish part is also a part of the Rail Baltica project and it's funded by CEF. It's not only in the design phase as the modernisation of the Warsaw-Bialystok line will be completed between 2023/2024.

[@ingarssamins1411]

I as a Latvian and train enthusiast am impressed and happy about this project, even tho my Latvian colleagues are sceptical. Traveling by train is the future. First they didn't believe the project would start, now they don't believe it will be finished. I say we end scepticism, we can do something at last

[@drsnova7313]

"Travelling by train is the future" - To your neighboring countries perhaps, not for serious long-distance travel.

[@ingarssamins1411]

@@drsnova7313 pretty serious for long distance travel, for tourism at least. Technology gets better, trains get faster, and the travel by train is like a tourist adventure itself. Can't be so sure about business travel tho

[@countdown4725]

4:45 €5.8 billion might sound like a lot, but compare it to HS2's £100+ billion in the UK, while Rail Baltica is around twice as long

[@Fred_the_1996]

yeah but the br*tish people are still stuck in the stone age and can't use tools so they can't build anything meaningful

[@tree427]

thats also about the price of 1 train ticket in the uk

[@CreatorPolar]

@@tree427viva la privatization

[@David-wp2iw]

yes, but hs2 is a twice speed as rail baltica. thats a different infrastructure with cherry topping expensive labor costs and tons of bureaucracy

[@hape3862]

@@David-wp2iw 230 km/h x 2 = 460 km/h. You don't believe that HS2 will be _that_ fast, do you?

[@duke403]

Didn't know Archeology was done like this at 9:15

[@AB-zl4nh]

The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@maltederalte2947]

I was searching for this comment so hard 😂

[@FrancoQwerty]

@@maltederalte2947 there are tools for such lol

[@mariuskreuder]

@@AB-zl4nh to give someone like you a reason for spamming. we all know you're right in theory, but the visual representation of Crimea on a map actually has no relevance for this video's content, so just calm down, will you?

[@times4937]

real archaeologist saw some artifact and ****

[@faterlandas]

And suddenly Baltics will have the most modern train system in EU :) Can't wait when this is finished and Kaunas to Tallin journey will take only 3 hours. Weekend journey Lithuania to Estonia will become common.

[@mikatu]

Modern, but not best.

[@sharifsazal]

2:00 I love how the transport minister of Latvia is just a building 😂

[@AB-zl4nh]

The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@botanist3257]

@@AB-zl4nh that has nothing to do with the topic of the video.

[@KrotowX]

At 2006 transport minister in Latvia was Aigars Kalvītis. He is the one who signed TEN-T agreement. I agree that in photo he look a bit like a building.

[@SuperStreetWarrior]

Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel will be actually 80 km long and thus will be longest undersea tunnel in the world

[@Hjernespreng]

No, it won't go from the Tallin city center. It would from the city's eastern peninsula, which cuts another 15-20km off the length.

[@hurri7720]

@@Hjernespreng , the problem with a train tunnel is that there is a limit to how high a train can climb and if the tunnel is deep below the Bay of Finland it needs a long distance to go down and come up in the other end. The Danes are solving that problem by not building a tunnel in the ground below the sea, but a tunnel built of concrete lying on the bottom. You find that project on KZbin.

[@ookomboo3334]

@@Hjernesprengwait kakumäe or paljasaare?

[@MrRromy]

yeah, definately worth it to just go shop for cheap alcohol :D

[@robotnikkkk001]

=AND TUNNEL WHERE WILL BE THE MOST PERCENTAGE OF DRUNK PEOPLE ONBOARD =HEHEHEHEHEHE

[@siimoraba2043]

Can't wait for this to be completed! Means our annual Eurotrips can begin in Pärnu instead of Tallinn and far less need to fly everywhere. And if having to fly, will have far more options with AirBaltic.

[@dragons_hook]

Just don't tell Scotty... Scotty doesn't know.

[@uweinhamburg]

Excellent idea - if there will be a good link to the German system, i would really love to visit the Baltic States as a tourist! Up to now the idea of flying such short distances have kept me away from it. All i have learned about them make them a fascinating destinations. As these countries are relatively small by size, they are great train areas! The inclusion of Finland via a tunnel would make the plan complete! Connecting people is a great element of the EU peace project! Money well spend..

[@AB-zl4nh]

The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@magnushelin007]

I agree. Money well spent.

[@phoenixoflight224]

Yeah dude that's your problem? Even if it's not recognised it's still in Russian hands

[@fokus5097]

As Lithuanian from Vilnius, I can't wait for this to finish, I always liked to just hop on train and go somewhere out of blue, and it opens so much more places to visit and most important, how fast I can be in said places.

[@vakeiniux321]

So happy this is happening!! Gonna change the game completely in the Baltics and beyond..

[@juuusturull1250]

Thank you so much for making this video about the my country, Estonia, and other Baltic States! It means a lot to us! I'll make a small correction: Saustinõmme is roughly pronounced as sa-w-sti-nym-me at 8:38.

[@haochengzhai7156]

Is it recognized in international law?🤔

[@dovias5665]

@@haochengzhai7156 Really? UN recognition is not enough for you?

[@haochengzhai7156]

@@dovias5665 Los cinco miembros permanentes tienen derecho de veto.😂

[@KarelKannel]

@@haochengzhai7156 What are you asking?

[@AB-zl4nh]

​@@dovias5665 The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@WhiteOwlet]

As someone living in Finland with family/friends in the Netherlands and Scotland, I can't wait for this thing to exist. Train travel is so nice.

[@SkribbleNL]

As someone from The Netherlands I can't wait for this to exist so I can visit Finland and the Baltic region with the ease of train and not having to fly.

[@cz.travelmaster]

When you travel to ex-Soviet countries, it's amazing to see how hard they're trying to get as far from the Orcs wannabe empire as possible. I wish the Baltic states success with this project and I'm happy the EU supports it. These kinds of things are where taxpayers money should be directed.

[@bertrecht913]

You are an orc.

[@MrPeterPan]

Cope

[@electricangel4488]

Better then paying for more red tape and ideological projects

[@jeckjeck3119]

Away from Mordor is always a good thing.

[@romawar]

Хохол, похрюкай

[@mangoldm]

I knew nothing about Estonia until I was researching grand pianos and came across Estonia Pianos. Impressive resilience against the Russians, and their pianos are amazing, too.

[@AB-zl4nh]

The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@JeZZGro]

​@@AB-zl4nhSame shit like Kosovo, yet there we are. Double standards from brainwashed people.

[@john_2589]

@@AB-zl4nh Can you chill? you commented this all over the place. he didnt show it as part of russia only as occupied by it.

[@joseraulmiguens6699]

@@AB-zl4nh illegaly according to who. half of the war see Russia's war as a just war.

[@seandoherty925]

​@@joseraulmiguens6699 illegal according to international law.

[@atmo03]

I (Estonian) am really looking forward to this. I miss commuting between Tallinn and Pärnu (my hometown) by train. And hopefully this will trigger more railway projects in Estonia between other municipalities. The current status of our railways is pathetic and the infrastructure is more car centric. Wish the people who don’t possess a car or can’t afford one have more options. If there is a possibility to commute with a train, people use it. Here trains are crowded! So that should give an idea to policy makers that we want an efficient railway system!

[@janipiot]

9:16 why is that dude censored?

[@AA-hg5fk]

Do you want to see an old man in his underwear?

[@andreykot8373]

He's hanging down to his knees, it can be shocking.

[@malahammer]

You can see why internal EU flights are and will be taking more hits because the rail network.

[@dramasoldier8669]

Good.

[@Jompe69]

Video didn't even say this huge bonus with Rail Baltica. This can have huge positive impact for all of us, if flight travel dramatically goes down. I'm still hoping that Finland can build the tunnel to Tallinn. Late night trains to Germany?? Helsinki to Tallinn in 30 minutes holy moly, that would be so awesome

[@jeckjeck3119]

@@Jompe69 And beautiful!

[@linusfotograf]

@@Jompe69 Imagine a high-speed rail connection and tunnel from Helsinki-Turku-Mariehamn-Stockholm

[@AB-zl4nh]

The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@DougGrinbergs]

2:48 Warsaw to Tallinn, possibly even Helsinki 8:13 military security for Baltics

[@voodoodummie]

At the moment the baltics and finland have the issue of functioning as poorly connected borderlands of the union. This project sounds great to integrate these countries further into the larger EU ecosystem.

[@aoki6332]

this is a big step from the past and the old Soviet Control to a more proper united Europe

[@sebsebski2829]

Sounds great. Would love to use the train from Warsaw and visit the Baltics!

[@seneca983]

1:50 The graphic seems to show a railway from Sweden to Finland through Åland. That makes no sense.

[@VedranKlemens]

I wish the Balkans had a similar modernized railway one day

[@M.vukasinovic-x4r]

Serbia has a nice railway. This will be part of a great project between Hungary and possible Bulgaria.

[@ТодорЛазаров-н2з]

​@@M.vukasinovic-x4r Milos, Bulgaria build railway Sofia, Burgas🤜

[@idraote]

It seems an incredibly useful infrastructure to connect the area.

[@hobog]

Such a great railway for less than 10 billion usd is great value 😊

[@lauris5275]

They all lie. Our country (Latvia) already sad that it will cost 5-6 billion more than expected on our side. :D

[@reineh3477]

As a Swede, I love this. Of course should our Baltic neighbours be able to travel by train to the rest of Europe.

[@davidlally592]

And indeed SJ/Swedish Rail already run an overnight train to/from Stockholm C to/from Berlin Hbf via the Oresund link..

[@LynxSwe]

@@davidlally592 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rITTdWdso5Wso9E

[@USStateOfSiberiaGHWBush1992]

Finland also plans a rail link with the Baltics and the rest of the EU. A tunnel bored/drilled beneath the Gulf of Finland, from Helsinki to Tallinn. Also so that Finland can transport by rail, around Russia and no longer through Russia.

[@ClemensKatzer]

Yes, I am looking forward to it. They also consider it because Helsinki and Tallinn would basically be in commuting distance from each other.

[@cosmicdebris2223]

2:27 fun fact, that will be Ernst & Young, I don't think the name is Earnest...

[@oskars1419]

from lisbon to helsinki by one train :D

[@tadkai]

Updating, price rise up to 4x times 😅 from 5.8 to 23.8 milrd.

[@Temo990]

5.8BN € seems fairly cheap for a project of that scale. We here in Germany pay about twice as much for a single train station.

[@Jack_The_Ripper_Here]

5.8 billion now….. 5.8 billion later

[@tim_goll]

the ~10bn for Stuttgart 21 also includes all the new bridges, tunnels and rails to Ulm. But still, this seems pretty cheap compared to german projects

[@KrotowX]

@@Jack_The_Ripper_Here In SpongeBob narrator voice: 5.8 billion euros later...

[@KrotowX]

@@tim_goll Add difference between working cost (yes, we still have quite different income level between EU countries) and some German-only specific regulations to bill.

[@aleksnarjanen939]

actually the 5.8bln is outdated, for the end of the 2022 the price was already +1.8bn higher because of inflation, and im 100% sure will be much higher at the end of the project.

[@realaurorien]

As a Lithuanian is genuinely funny how easily Latvian and Estonian cities are pronounced, but when Lithuania enters the question, noone comes even close to the correct pronounciation haha. This isnt meant as any offense, i just like how unique our language is, its so well preserved that there is no language like it.

[@NeblogaiLT]

LT (and I think LV and EE) spelling is phonemically correct (letters consistently correspond with sounds), which is the right way to use the alphabet. But in a lottery of how English speakers pronounce the names of Baltic cities- EE and LV happened to have names that are easier for English to pronounce.

[@realaurorien]

@@NeblogaiLT i wasn't talking about spelling...spelling and pronunciation are two different things

[@NeblogaiLT]

@@realaurorien Kind of hard to know how to pronounce things if your writing system does not have consistent spelling.. That is why English speakers are often afraid to even try reading foreign names. And when they do- usually wrong pronunciations gain traction, and become the norm in that language.

[@realaurorien]

@@NeblogaiLT I'm not insulting him...I don't know where you saw any criticism, i complimented my beautiful language

[@erikjurmann6594]

To be fair the Estonian names are not pronounced as you would in Estonian in the video

[@piotrwojdelko1150]

I hope that they will build a stop in Suwalki gap it mainly will be for local people because Suwalki is cut off from Lithuania.High speed also means to high maintenance cost

[@yurikaradzhov5202]

Why did you paint Crimea as part of russian territory? It was occupied same as parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions back in 2014, but you did draw this parts in a different way.

[@57thorns]

They probably just used a standard map from somewhere. While Russia never admitted to the invasion of Donetsk and Luhansk, they did claim Crimea in 2014, making it a contested territory under de facto Russian control. Given the subject matter of Russian imperialism and the current war, this was a huge mistake. At the same time only 15 countries (several of them already under Russian control or just anti-western like North Korea and Afghanistan) considered the invasion of Crimea justified. If anything, Crimera should be shaded. It is part of Ukraine by law, but has been under Orcish control for close to ten years.

[@AB-zl4nh]

​​@@57thorns Supporting the narrative of rapist's and killers is disgusting and unjustified. Ukraine was invaded, occupied and then this part annexed. This channel is a disgrace to code the map that supports that.

[@AB-zl4nh]

Thank you. I cannot believe this channel just supported the narrative of Putin. It's disgusting.

[@goldbullet50]

@@AB-zl4nh How many decades should we continue drawing incorrect maps then? Russia does control Crimea, like it or not.

[@ultrasupermegakek2932]

@@AB-zl4nh Can you provide any non-US sponsored sources on the accusations, mr. spammer?

[@markussieder6162]

I am currently travelling through Poland & Baltics with Interrail and it is quite gruesome. The new route would make this travel so much more attractive!! (Long travelling times, no wifi on Polish IC, no train service between Lithuania and Latvia)

[@tomaspangonis2440]

There is no direct train but technically you can go by train to Vilnius to Turmantas (small village right on Lithuania-Latvia border) and change trains there and continue :)

[@PurpleDuneEfa]

@@tomaspangonis2440 "change trains" not a single train runs to Turmantas from Latvian side. You need to travel from Turmantas to Daugavpils somehow and then hop onto a train Daugavpils - Riga

[@alouisschafer7212]

5.8 billion is dirt cheap in the grand scheme of things here in Europe. I hope that this project will reignite the idea of interrail and make way for cheaper and more streamlined rail travel in Europe.

[@iamanomas]

Well you should double the cost immediately.

[@thomaswallace479]

Rail Baltica: what an exciting project, especially with the connection to Finland by tunnel. So many benefits.

[@mcmc-g9z]

that's so cool, can't wait to take a trip through the Baltics once it's done

[@aliancemd]

As demonstrated by Ukraine, the old Russian network is a security threat to these countries

[@TremereTT]

Is Vilnius basically build right in the reach if Russia/Belarus?

[@botanist3257]

@@TremereTT all Baltic countries basically are.

[@TremereTT]

@@botanist3257 But look at the the map...man Vilnius...That's a capital right. And they put it right at their border to allow Moscovite armies the easiest access possible. In my mind all the Baltic capitals were on the shore of the Baltic sea. Now I wonder if relocating the capital to Klaipeda would improve the situation, when Königsberg and Kleipeda share a pond. It looks like Lithuania is totally f##ked by it's geography. Hmmm. I think Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine have all the rights to support the opposition in Belarus to get a buffer state to Russia...This is realy the only option to be save I think. Belrus needs a democratic revoloution. If we are lucky the belarussian volunteers aiding Ukraine, might put things right in Belarus when they return home. Being Lithuanian realy looks like being the guy that build a house on the edge of an active volcano in the middle of the pacific.

[@ysmg9010]

While it started as a civil project, there certainly is a military aspect. Currently standard gauge track only reaches Kaunus. Any heavy equipment would have to unloaded there.

[@andrebyche31]

that's hilarious

[@stehgrad]

In Austria we are working on the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor for many years. The new railway tunnels should be finished by 2030.

[@AndrewBlacker-wr2ve]

When switching gauge, sometimes the whole car is lifted off the wheel sets and put onto the next gauge wheel sets.

[@pawelzielinski1398]

Absolutely. Nobody needs to switch trains. My dad studied in Moscow back in the day and he took the train from Warsaw many times (plane few times as well). In Brest at the border they had the cranes that lifted the passenger cars a bit and removed the standard gauge undercarriage and replaced it with the Russian style. It doesn't take long to do that. Back in the 70s and 80s there were a lot of Russian trains with Russian carriages going through Poland to their military bases in Poland and Germany.

[@KrotowX]

On slow railways or railways made for some very specific reason it is Ok. For regular high sped and freight train lines - not so much.

[@pawelzielinski1398]

@@KrotowX Yes, I was talking about Stalin era trains. Also back in the 70s and 80s there were Russian carriages regularly traveling to and through Poland with Russian officers and family members of Russian soldiers.

[@u1zha]

O rly? Spain has gauge-changing technology where the train doesn't even need to stop. Mechanical levers push the wheels along the axle and fix them in place again.

[@AndrewBlacker-wr2ve]

@@u1zha I've heard Spain can change gauge without lifting... Now I understand how!

[@jannix7262]

This is great. I love travelling by train. but at the moment it takes way too much time from Munich to the Baltics. I really like this projects as they bring us europeans closer together :)

[@playframe6231]

this will be a huge boost to Baltic states

[@righteousbyfaithinChrist]

Sounds like a wonderful project and much needed as well!!!👏👏👏

[@maciejtrybilo]

I love train travel in theory. Unfortunately in practice booking long distance travel across Europe is a big pita and the rail operators are way too comfortable with delays. The EU should get a grip on those.

[@danielnight5057]

Literally travel 80% of the year week around Europe with train, delays and availability where it is available is not an issue I ever faced.

[@eljanrimsa5843]

@@danielnight5057 It is very good once you know where to look, how often to look, and where to expect problems and calculate a little extra time. But it is confusing just to understand which connections are available, and how much they cost. Usually I go to a big portal to see for which part of my journey I have good regular connections, aggregate websites to fill in the gaps, and often additionally to regional providers to buy tickets.

[@danielnight5057]

@@eljanrimsa5843 Google maps are more than enough

[@danielnight5057]

@@eljanrimsa5843 map shows what company runs the trains if people have common sense they Google them and buy them also there are apps like omio and train line which make it easy to buy tickets from multiple companies. Not to mention station sales

[@danielnight5057]

@@eljanrimsa5843 but haven't been to Romania, so maybe it's harder

[@jajajejehjune4301]

Great video! Thank you :)

[@AB-zl4nh]

The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@pasanaator9874]

The project hurts many people aswell, my friend who is a farmer will have his field cut in half with no easy way to travel between the halves being made.

[@cosmicreciever]

It's really distracting that the volume of the voiceover goes down whenever there is a sound effect, it makes it hard to pay attention to the topic

[@amk6266]

I like how you say "reaccupied", lol. Ah, btw, Finland also uses Russian gauge.

[@Oldschool_Gamer_]

Hopefully this will provide incentives to replace their Russian guage to this one. which would not just helping NATO move it's materiel, but also to make it harder for Russia (who heavily relies on rail for military transportation) to use these tracks. as well as adding further economic advantages

[@KrotowX]

Easier to say than do. It require not only track and all used rolling stock wheel gauge change to Standard gauge in three Baltic states, but also railway signaling system replacing to system commonly used in the rest of Europe. In addition all upgraded railway stuff must comply to modern EU railway requirements. It will cost much more than 6 bn EU mentioned here. Probably it will be done, but not in this decade yet.

[@teffety5466]

Или просто снова начать торговать с Россией и Белоруссией, а ещё дать гражданство "не гражданам".

[@jjsmthr]

@@teffety5466 Никто не хочет торговать с фашистской Россией. Забудь про цивилизацию. Все увидели истинное лицо московитов, когда они заблокировали украинские порты и парализовали перевозку украинского зерна, который кормит 20% населения планеты.

[@Danila_Korotkov02]

@@jjsmthr, никто не хочет только по новостям, где пипл хавает. А бизнес просто меняет владельца, название, цепочку поставок и торгует, как торговал

[@jezusbloodie]

Could you make a video on the western part of this TEN-T corridor project. Originally it was supposed to go to London, but brexit. Recently I read somewhere that my city, Enschede NLD, might get a direct connection to Helsinki, which would be hella dope, but as I tried to look into it I only got confused. The Wikipedia on this North Sea-Baltic Corridor is really really unhelpful, contradictive even, and i wasnt able to dig up anything conclusive in a timely manner and gave up. Can you maybe help out with this in the form of some delicious ✨content✨

[@davidlally592]

Ah... many in Brexit voters in UK (actually in England Wales, cos Scotland and NI voted Bremain) are now regretting their mega-stupid actions...

[@erik_griswold]

1520mm is Soviet Gauge. Russian Gauge, thanks to an American (the father of the painter of Whistler’s Mother) is 1524mm (5 feet) and is still used in Finland.

[@rollercoaster478]

So from 2011 to 2017 they established the legal company RB RAIL and ordered EY to conduct a study. Thats such slow progress holy shit :D I remember back in 2014 everyone was so hyped that Rail Baltica will finally start building but nah they just waited and waited and waited.

[@KrotowX]

Project would begin faster, but 2008 crisis happened. Then several years passed in fierce underground battles about potential routes, designs and choosing about who will build particular distances and supply materials and equipment. For example in Latvia first RB project director leaved her post because she had enough with local municipalities and business owners who cared more about how much funds they will slurp from EU funds or how much they or their friends will put in private pockets. Without that real building would begin several years earlier.

[@rollercoaster478]

@@KrotowX Yes good points, unfortunately locals and corruption delayed all this.

[@mardus_ee]

​@@KrotowX And then Lithuania wanted a direct line to Vilnius, which was outside the scope of the project.

[@57thorns]

It is also vital to rebuild all of the railroads to standard gauge to further dissuade Russian aspiration to invade the Baltics. This is a much larger undertaking, but it has to be done eventually.

[@romawar]

You are delusional

[@Maisszs]

On the news they said its to expensive in latvia

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

@@Maisszs More expensive than being invaded by Russia? Yeah I don't think so. It is a vital passive defence deterrent for all ex Soviet states to get of Russian gauge ASAP.

[@roadent217]

I don't think that will happen. It would cost too much to replace *all* the railways to the standard gauge. Cost that would be better spent simply expanding the respective militaries. The smaller railways are still going to remain in Russian gauge. Then, as an example, the Sovietsk-Klaipėda, Sovietsk-Šiauliai and Nesterov-Kaunas railways would still remain in the Soviet gauge, so if Russia were to invade from the Kaliningrad direction, they could quickly repair the tracks to keep up supply to their forward positions. The main benefit from this mega-project would be that NATO trains could, potentially, drive all the way up to Tallinn without being dependent on local Soviet gauge trains.This would expand NATO military infrastructure, which is always a plus.

[@57thorns]

@@roadent217 If (and this is a big if) trains get a true renaissance it is possible that Russian gauge will go the same way as the narrow gauge. You begin by adding a third rail to accommodate standard gauge and as the old soviet rolling stock is modernized eventually the russian rail is removed. But it would take a long time.

[@edrag0n]

This project is super exciting to me, in Lithuania, but oh my god it's so slow... Maybe my expectations are too high, but it's been on-going and talked about for most of my life and they still haven't got round to building the track. And trains will not be thaaat fast really, why can't we have 300+ km/h? And also, I think it would be fair to pay for it ourselves, esp. given the massive advantages that come with it. On the other hand, it's funny to compare it with UK's HS2

[@AL-lh2ht]

The EU is suppose to support underprivileged nations for economic and stability reasons.

[@KrotowX]

Let hope that it will be built upgradeable for speed :) There is however minimum distance between stations where HS train become viable. Even without extra engineering complexity too little distance will not allow train to accelerate and decelerate with comfortable acceleration. You certainly will not want to use seat belts like in plane.

[@leeswecho]

It is humbling to consider that in the time it took Europe to decide to build this rail line, China actually built an entire national rail system across the entire country.

[@mariuskumpys6780]

Naivu. Tai beprasmis, nuostolius generuosiantis projektas. Tai nebus greitasis geležinkelis kur traukiniai lėktų 350 km/h greičiu. Atsišakojimas į Vilnių išvis kažkokia beprotybė, kai dabar traukiniu be problemų galima iš Vilniaus į Kauną patekti. Tokiais zigzagais keliaujant iš Suvalkų į Vilnių jokio laiko išlošimo nebus. Keleivių tarnsportavimas yra nuostolingas, tai senai žinoma, ir geležinkeliai kompensuoja juos dėka krovinių transportavimo, na tai koks čia išlošimas iš Rail Balticos Lietuvai? Kroviniai bus kur? Į Kauną, ir Panevėžį, su zigzagu į Vilnių? Video išvis optimistiniai svaičiojimai. Kas visa tai išlaikys? Kas prižiūrės? Valstybė su mažėjančiu gyventojų skaičiumi? Vadinasi paraleliai išlakyti ir Lietuvos geležinkelius ir Rail Baltica, nes Rail Baltica bus visai atskira sistema: su savo reidmenmis ir lokomotyvais, savo signalizacija ir saugumo sistema ir aišku viską pirkti iš Vokietijos ir kitų šalių kur naudojama tokia sistema su atitinkama kaina. O kur dar žemių išpirkimas, iškirsti miškai, sankasos ir iškasos? Apie jokį atsipirkimą nėra net kalbos.

[@VaidasMaldzius]

id love to travel so quicly around baltics! So cool!

[@aniinnrchoque1861]

A continuous train from Berlin to Kaunas would be lovely! Sign me up!

[@mossyslopes]

9.16 time mark 🤣 What the hell is going on at that archaeological dig? Otherwise, a fantastic update re: closer integration with Baltic EU states 👍

[@AA-hg5fk]

Looks like a great idea. It's a shame my country voted to leave the EU, the UK's transport infrastructure is dreadful and i doubt things are going to get better now we're outside the EU. Thanks Brexiteers...

[@jackdunn3235]

We will rejoin. 🇪🇺❤️🇬🇧

[@---...---...---...---...]

The EU is on the fast track to federalism at which point it will become an even less efficient and even more tyrannical version of the federal united states of America. Why would anyone but the most corrupt elites want to join such a thing?

[@anglaismoyen]

In what way was our membership of the EU holding our transport infrastructure together?

[@jackdunn3235]

@@anglaismoyen are you British. You have no British content on your channel. Just Chinese.

[@radosaworman7628]

@@jackdunn3235hope not. EU is getting torn apart by internal tensions. I do not like Conservative party in UK but Jonson was right that time is ripe for new smaller economic unions to form.

[@leonf.7893]

Can we talk about the image at 9:15

[@stevens1041]

Important to do it. Make sure its double tracked for quick freight transport

[@henrikmanitski1061]

It is double-track.

[@ThrashingCode]

Looks like some of those shots were plugin added Transport Fever graphics and I'm all here for it! 🤣

[@TrineDaely]

Europe takes trains very seriously it would seem. I hope it works as well in practice as it does in theory.

[@aidanclarke6106]

It works very well on national fares but still a lot to do to improve international fares, with the exception of the Thalys line London-Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam which works flawlessly

[@EQuake2290]

our trains have always served us faithfully

[@krashd]

It does or we would not have spent 200 years building them.

[@TrineDaely]

@@krashd I meant the environmental considerations, I just failed to specify that.

[@denzzlinga]

Another question would be, does it make sense to have one standard gauge line through broad gauge networks? Or would it be more practical to change the whole baltic rail networks to standard gauge, so that everything is compatible? And in a next step change Finnland´s network to standard gauge too, and interconnect it with Sweden´s network and through that tunnel with rail baltica.

[@Outside85]

I am pretty certain that slowly converting the whole rail network to the same gauge size is one of the future ideas they have, but not doing it now is likely due to costs and national interests. But in the long run, not having direct access to the new rail line is going to annoy local governments and business' enough that they might start finding investors to expand the network. Also, many years into the future when its become a somewhat sensible country (hopefully), I could imagine the line being extended even further to St. Petersburg, and a different string may go to Kyiv.

[@denzzlinga]

@@Outside85 my thought was, to start changing the gauge before rail baltica is finished. So that when it will be finished in the 2030s, the majority of the baltic rail networks will be standard gauge allready, and everything can work together, and especially the freight cars can leave rail baltica and circulate the network, like they do in every other eu country.

[@Outside85]

@@denzzlinga That would be the most sensible thing, I agree, but also very expensive and disruptive. Plus I am not sure how much of these existing rail-lines are fully or partially in private hands... like the state can easily say they want to make the change, but a private operator likely isn't just going to cough up the money for new trains or tracks if what they have work perfectly fine as far as they are concerned. I am however thinking that if enough companies who have their hands in shipping start lobbying for a link to major ports or cities, then something will be worked out.

[@seneca983]

@@denzzlinga Such a switch will/would likely take a very long time.

[@KrotowX]

Will happen if it will become feasible at some moment. Otherwise converting whole railway in Finlandia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is awfully expensive project (probably around 100 bn EUR now) with marginal gain. Because it will require to change both rail and rolling stock gauge and upgrade railway signaling system in Baltic States railways to be unified with the rest of EU.

[@GoodSmile3]

I live in Riga, this project is hell for everyone, but I really hope it gets finished

[@sollte1239]

Why is it hell

[@KrotowX]

​@@sollte1239 Because of new railway track building around Riga central station and rebuilding of station itself area around station became huge construction site for last two years. At this year it added big transport disruption in this area which is main traffic hub between some city parts due to all existing railway viaduct blocking in city center and a lack of river Daugava river crossing for traffic at North of city center. We know that result should be great. But damn how this is annoying now.

[@mardus_ee]

​@@KrotowX The city of Tallinn is building a tram line extension in the city centre to connect the port and the airport, and there are other construction projects going on in the centre. Traffic is awful during peak hours.

[@KrotowX]

@@mardus_ee I can imagine that. Riga at this year look like construction site and road repair mix too.

[@lauris5275]

@@KrotowX Riga looks like a warzone.

[@SlofSi]

An interesting video about an interesting subject, only the frantic pace of the graphics sucked. I had to pause and rewind a few times to see some interesting map for example, because it was on the screen maybe half a second.

[@quasarsavage]

Can't wait to visit the Baltics in the 2030s :)

[@Hession0Drasha]

Looks like a warsaw-krakow-budapest high speed link would be a good idea, seems stupid to have to go through vienna.

[@MrToradragon]

In theory this project is already under development, Poland is building new HSR to Bohumín, project for HSR from Přerov to Ostrava is in planning phase, Slovakia should be already Upgrading it's link with Czechia to at least 200 kph. What is remaining of that is upgrade of Kaiser Ferdinands Nordbahn. That should be quite easy up to 200-230 kph, upgrade of Austrian part of KFNB should begin soon as well.

[@Hession0Drasha]

@@MrToradragon that would go from ostrava to vienna to budapest. Which is not a very direct line from warsaw to budapest.

[@MrToradragon]

@@Hession0Drasha Or to Bratislava and Budapest, other options would most likely require long tunnels and new lines and would most likely miss major towns and cities. Thus proposal, even thou it would take longer, would utilize existing lines with available capacities that can be upgraded for not that high cost.

[@Hession0Drasha]

@@MrToradragon true, but bratislava is right next to vienna so it's pretty much the same thing. I agree upgrading what is already there is the most beneficial in the short term. I would guess building a tunnel through the carpathians would save an hour/hour and a half, travel time from warsaw to budapest, when compared to going around them.

[@MrToradragon]

@@Hession0Drasha Going right through Tatry or partly through Tatry and then around Váh would mean that you would be missing two cities and their metropolitan areas with at least 2.5, that is quite significant number of potential customers. As well later it would be required to build another line connecting Warsaw with Vienna and potentially Venice and other place in Italy. Austria is currently building new high speed line nad long base tunnels in Alps in order to cut travel times which will most likely induce at least some demand. Going straight to the Budapest would mean that opportunity to connect to this line would be missed.

[@chrissmith2114]

Seems like EU can build a railway network for Euro 6 billion, while in Britain we build a 120 mile long railway we do not need and it will cost £150 billion - over £1 billion per mile...

[@krashd]

We're building an HS line, there is a huge difference.

[@chrissmith2114]

@@krashd Saving a few minutes on a short journey - great plan and a complete waste of money - people are using railways less in UK.

[@magnushelin007]

Thank goodness the UK left the EU. Now the EU can go ahead with large projects without the British whining the whole time. Also, remember all the money you sent to the EU every day that could be better spent on the NHS? Bonfire of the quangos? Rules and regulations you could get rid off?. Good speed.

[@chrissmith2114]

@@magnushelin007 Britain helped to pay for a lot of those projects as one of the few members who actually contributed to the EU gravy train. Britain was called 'Treasure Island' by the 'great and good' in EU. The HS2 was actually an EU requirement for an EU wide high speed rail network, so the un-elected in Brussels could see the limits of its domain more quickly and be back in Brussels in time for a very subsidised slap up dinner with lots of subsidised alcohol...

[@magnushelin007]

@@chrissmith2114 Always blaming others. Stop building the HS2 then now that you are free from oppression. Have you thought of that? I am just glad you were out in time for the energy crisis last year. If not you would have blamed the inflation and high energy prices on Brussels/European super state/Germany, anything but your failed class of politicians. Now you can only blame yourself (and of course the new excuse, "net zero"). With all the money you save not sending pounds to Europe you can cover the streets in gold, NHS can finally be the best public health care system in the world. Now, with you freedom anything is possible.

[@flightmasterr231]

9:15 What's up with the random naked guy?

[@u1zha]

Probably not naked, just his bulge confused some AI into thinking he was naked/needing pixelization.

[@jultomten3739]

Opening in 2030 thats sick here in Sweden we gotta wait till 2035 for a new mainline

[@zane_xoxo667]

me (latvian) is very exciting as a latvian for this project and its benefits for my country (latvia)

[@Diralos]

I hope that Europe will finally invest in a high-speed train network (over 500km/h) and make it cheaper than flights. However, it seems to be hampered by different national interests.

[@darthmaul216]

500? That won’t be happening for decades, in any place

[@Diralos]

@@darthmaul216 There are already maglev trains that go beyond 500. Sure they dont go that speed in a regular commute only tests. But maybe with some investements and time they will.

[@noefillon1749]

@@Diralos Too expensive

[@MusicIsLegal]

@@Diralos Wont happen in Europe. Its better to wait for the Hyperloop to be more accepted and build infrastructure for that.

[@radosaworman7628]

I think that’s might be connected with very unstable climate when it comes to temperature. Additionally I doubt it’s possible in states that aren’t nuclear powerhouses like France or Japan. And yes - you got max v wrong.

[@williamlloyd3769]

What is the status of Russian gauge railways in the Baltic states? Is there a parallel project to migrate to Standard gauge over time?

[@kalle911]

here in Estonia I've seen it mentioned in the program of the freshly-elected coalition, but only so far as to "support the proposal of the european commission to convert the gauge". In other words, we'd have to get help from EU to do it.

[@kerstas10]

Who is gonna pay for all of it?. Also, it would be a little bit silly to convert all ralways to eu standart, cuz, belarus and russia uses lt,lv,ee, ports too. (Money for baltics from ruSSia)

[@UhOhUmm]

Very hard to justify, especially if this project is completed successfully. And like other commentator said when/if the war ends the eastern countries will want to use our ports once again.

[@kalle911]

@@UhOhUmm not sharing a gauge with Russia would be beneficial when it comes to defence)

[@nicolas.predella]

It will remain as-is for many years, as new trains with soviet gauge have recently been purchased for instance in Latvia. It doesn't really make sense to overhaul the system at this point, it would be unnecessarily expensive for not much benefit, especially considering trains running on these rails don't leave the country.

[@Urbanhandyman]

As a California taxpayer I'm crying with envy.

[@bobross2404]

except most of the money has *magically* disappeared or suddenly the budget is not enough to cover expenses of everything that was planned initially. as per usual

[@ethribin4188]

Close to 6 billion euros? Thats a lot. But also absolutely a payable amount. And compleatly worth it for nearly 1000 km of rail infrastructure.

[@waasar]

9:16 Is that an Archeologist in Speedos?

[@w.k.7277]

Without speedos 😮

[@KrotowX]

Seems a glitch in KZbin nudity censoring algorithms. Most likely he had dirty khaki with blue shorts.

[@ronmaximilian6953]

Hopefully, this rail line will only be used for commercial and civilian purposes. Of course, It also has military applications. Professionals look at logistics and amateurist look at tactics. But everybody is looking at the Suwalki gap (Polish- Lithuanian border) between Belarus and Russian Kalliningrad

[@sagichnicht6748]

Why shouldn't it also be used for strategical purposes? What's wrong with military applications to defend against military aggressors?

[@AL-lh2ht]

Dude, this is for economic reasons. If needed to transport military hardware they would use boat or plane. Not a civilian rail system.

[@sagichnicht6748]

Your argument is not making any sense. Why shouldn't the Baltic countries be able to use Rail Baltica for military purposes to strengthen their own capability to defend themselve against actual aggressors. The Baltics were totally right to join NATO in hindsight. Russia would have invaded already years ago if they hadn't, as binding international obligations don't mean a thing for the regime in Moscow (Russia would obliged by binding treaties to respect Ukraines borders and that includes of course Crimea as part of Ukraine). The only thing protecting against Russian imperialists is a strong defense pact.

[@sagichnicht6748]

@@AL-lh2ht Planes are of no use for heavy equipment or at least shipping heavy equipment by specialized planes is ridiculously bothersome and expensive and only done when there are no alternatives and in war scenarios. Ships on the other side are slow and limited, you have to transfer, unload-load the equipment halfway in. Rail is a very common mode of transport for stuff like tanks. That is, if you have the rail lines for it. This isn't some theoretical case, military equipment is transported on rail all the time, also in peace time.

[@ronmaximilian6953]

It allows NATO and the Baltic quick force response to put troops and material in the area quickly before a conflict. I would expect it to be degraded if not cut in any conflict with Russia that isn't nuclear. If it's nuclear conflict we're all boned anyway.

[@sarcasmo57]

Looks like a pretty good idea.

[@AB-zl4nh]

The map this channel used treats Crimea as not a part of Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine & illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. Neither Ukraine nor the vast majority of UN member state countries recognise this illegal invasion, occupation and annexation. Why has this channel?

[@docjanos]

You may want to improve your selection of stock footage. The shot at 1:28 of the supposed change of gauge at the border is actually a picture of two commuter trains in the New York area.

[@jameshicks6753]

Good ideal, wish we had forward thinking like this here in the US. Keep up the good work.

[@ohyeah2816]

The UK left the EU. ‘Kick Me’ should be pinned on people who voted to Leave.

[@davidlally592]

Yup mega, mega stupid...

[@shefflontidwell8216]

Will here in the USA were still going to be decades away from getting anything like that!

[@Siranoxz]

You Americans do making some progress regarding rail development.. So don't give up hope..

[@jeckjeck3119]

US is not rail focused.

[@AL-lh2ht]

The US started four superstars high speed rail projects recently. They are being made. It’s just projects like this take forever.

[@MrVeryfrost]

Join the EU :)

[@wizardman1976]

Ah... the land of the free. How did I survive almost 50 years without being forced to own a car? Oh, right... I forgot, I live in Europe.