Estonia and Finland on Tuesday agreed to take another step towards building an undersea railway tunnel linking their respective capitals, located on opposite shores of the Baltic Sea. Estimated to cost around 13 billion euros ($14 billion), the project would extend to Helsinki the Rail Baltica high-speed rail link that Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania already plan to build between Tallinn and the Polish capital Warsaw by 2025.
"The tunnel would offer Helsinki the opportunity to get attached to the Rail Baltica," Finnish Transport Minister Anne Berner told reporters after agreeing with Estonian Economy Minister Kristen Michal in Tallinn to further study the feasibility of the project. A preliminary study into the tunnel was published last February and now the two countries seek funding from the European Union to continue the project.