The new Muuga terminal will be Rail Baltica’s only freight terminal linked to the port. Muuga is the largest freight port in Estonia and is located 17km northeast of the capital Tallinn.

The winner will be responsible for the design of a freight station, terminal connections and infrastructure including a tunnel, catenary, traffic control systems, a control centre and rolling stock maintenance depot. The deadline for submission of bids is June 19.

It is estimated that 4-5 million tonnes of freight will pass through the Muuga multimodal freight terminal annually following the completion of Rail Baltica. Analysis completed by Civitta Eesti and DB Engineering & Consulting in 2018 shows that in 20 years these volumes may even double to reach 8-10 million tonnes of freight per year.

Muuga port is already served by Eesti Raudtee’s conventional 1520mm gauge network. “The addition of the Rail Baltica Muuga multimodal freight terminal will bring additional synergies, especially for the transport of freight flows in containers and trailers by rail directly to Western European destinations without costly and time-consuming transhipment at the Lithuanian-Polish border,” says Mr Erik Laidvee, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eesti Raudtee.

“Rail Baltica brings a completely different dimension to the logistics chain of Estonia and the entire Baltic Sea region,” says Mr Valdo Kalm, chairman of Tallinna Sadam port authority. “The existing capacity of Muuga Harbour together with the future multimodal terminal provides an opportunity for developing a comprehensive transport hub, which will create a completely new north-south freight corridor, but also opens up opportunities in the direction of east as well as Asia.

“Already today, many large international logistics companies are assessing the opportunities to be created by Rail Baltica in their development scenarios, and by progressing with the project we will also give them a signal to be considered in making their future plans.”

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