Rail Baltica is more then railroad - Kaur Lass, OÜ Head

Rail Baltica in Spatial Plans – the railroad as part of a much bigger whole Kaur Lass Planning Expert and Leadership Consultant CEO of OÜ Head Tartu 04.04.2012

2I have been involved with planning the Rail Baltica in alllevels.During the international co-operation:•  VASAB 2010 co-operation and Via Baltica Spatial Development Zone(VBSDZ) co-operation project;National level:•  National Spatial Plan Estonia 2030+;Local level:•  Comprehensive Plan for Continental Area of Viimsi Municipality andComprehensive Plan for Äigrumäe village, Laiaküla village, Metsakastivillage and part of Muuga Village at in Viimsi Municipality;•  Study of Tallinn-Helsinki Railway Tunnel Area in Viimsi Municipality.My experience is that Rail Baltica in those plan has never been just arailroad. It has been and is much more...

3Rail Baltica has been handled in plans as: 1993 2020•  a possibility to shorten time distance above all between neighboringcapitals – it creates new possibilities for business, friendship and tourism;•  an infrastructure that will enable us to create more internal co-operation – it is a driver of change in our small region where we haveshortage of highly qualified workforce;•  an environmental friendly alternative to fast travelling;•  a missing working railway connection between North and Southdirection (between Finland, Baltic States and Poland).

4But above all Rail Baltica is the missing land connectionlink between Baltic States and central Europe.

5Time is assetAs we are living in the information age time has become the greatestvalue together with information. Most successful businesses todayvalue people. Skillful and successful people value their time.No matter how we build our roads (highways), they will never shorten thetravel time as much as railroad can. Average traveling speed on road isalways less then 90 km/h in our climate. Average traveling time of RailBaltic can be around or even above 200 km/h. That is big difference!Also the travelers time in train can be used valuably (using computers onboard to work, communicating over phone is allowed and cheap, timecould also be used for relaxing etc).

6Time is assetExistingrailroads ofEurope withtravel timesandplannedtravel timeof Rail Baltic: http://www.rbgc.eu/media/ kick_off/kakulis.pdf http://www.eurail.com/sites/all/files/eurail.com/maps/traveltimes-2012.jpg

7The greatest value of Rail Baltica is connecting people! … and on from Warsaw to Europe up to 400 km/h mightVia Pärnu 240 km/h – happen in next 10… 20 years.is going to be plannedVia Tartu 120 km/h – is ready Where we want to be connected?

8The greatest value of Rail Baltica is connecting people! Where we want to be connected? http://www.nordregio.se/en/Maps--Graphs/ 04-Economy-trade-and-industry/

9The greatest value of Rail Baltica is connecting people! Where we want to be connected? http://www.nordregio.se/en/Maps--Graphs/ 04-Economy-trade-and-industry/

10We have agreed Rail Baltica a long time ago:VASAB 2010 report* stated:Improved railway transportation systemshall provide connections for longdistances among “European” and “Balticcities”. This includes high-speed long-distance passenger trains alongselected corridors which interlink withthe corresponding network for WesternEurope via Berlin and Hamburg.Main high-speed railway lines 2010and beyond:4. Tallinn-Riga-Kaunas-Warsaw-Berlin-Hamburg.* VASAB 2010 Towards a Framework for Spatial Development in theBaltic Sea Region (Tallinn Conference), 1994, see page 59

11We even had an international co-operation project ondeveloping the the area as growth corridor:Via Baltica Spatial Development ZoneSummary report* stated that followingStrategy and Actions are needed:ObjectiveD.1.1. Fast international railway accessto Central EuropeActionD.1.1.1 To develop Rail Baltica as anhigh-speed railway Helsinki-Berlin (trainferry Helsinki-Tallinn, Helsinki-Tallinntunnel)* Via Baltica Spatial Development Zone Summary Report 2000, Riga2000, see page 95

12In Estonia we had Rail Baltica in our first National SpatialPlan Estonia 2010Estonian valid National SpatialPlan - Estonia 2010 showed the . Rail Baltica routeRail Baltica route directly formTallinn to south. There is alsoshown a direction towardsFinland (by boat or via tunnel).The plan also stressed theimportance of railwaydevelopment!Estonia 2010 was approvedby Estonian Government19. September 2000.

13… and we have it in our new plan! The new National Spatial PlanEstonia 2030+ focuses on reducing the space-time distances betweenmajor cities by means of improved rail connections as well as byimproving the connectivity of different public transport types in order toprovide better possibilities for economic and social co-operation. . Rail Baltica routeMap oftransportation

14The Estonian new National Spatial Plan Estonia 2030+ also stressesthe importance of good transport connections with the rest ofEurope by land (especially Rail Baltica), sea and air.

15The Estonian new National Spatial Plan Estonia 2030+ also points outthat good connections are important both for enabling traveling andcargo traffic. We also see that Estonia is small, it can be made biggeronly by better and easier connections. Our GDP comes from those whowork, so we need to have good connections within daily work force areas!Map of thedaily workforce areas

16What is the final step of planning?Based upon valid Estonian National Spatial Plan - Estonia 2010 threecounties on the route of high-speed railway have stated its possibilityon their county plans:•  Pärnu County;•  Rapla County;•  Harju County.The route have to be now more exact, so that the railway can be built.For that Estonia is preparing to start thematic county plan for allthree counties. The purpose of that plan is to decide exactlocation of Rail Baltic. Preparations are already ongoing.After the thematic county plan is valid building permits can be given.

17We should also keep open mind for follow ups.Viimsi Municipality has carried out astudy for choosing the tunnel areaand planned it. The ComprehensivePlan for Äigrumäe village, Laiakülavillage, Metsakasti village and part ofMuuga Village in Viimsi Municipalityis now valid and municipality plans tokeep it that way. That enables The Rail Baltica railway and exact tunnel area .building tunnel, if needed.If the tunnel is feasible depends notonly how many people we have(living and traveling in our region), butalso on what is our living quality andGDP!

18The aim of planning is: To agree the terms for the planned eventbased on the vision.To reach the desired future we have to make constantly decisions onthe same direction. Specially in case of bigger infrastructure objects. Past Future Planned event Agreed terms Present

19“Whether you think you can, or you think you cant – either way, youare right.” - Henry FordTo plan the future only as a extension of the past trends is not wise.Plans should be orientated on opening new options for us! Past Future Planned event Agreed terms Present

20How Rail Baltica affects co-operation if built?•  Neighbors “come” closer – new economic, educational as well aspersonal relations appear (NB! It takes time to run them in). Thoseinclude easy daily trips to neighboring capitals;•  Tourism becomes easier;•  New logistical opportunities arise;•  We do not need as wide highways (Yes railway is expensive, but4 lane highway is that as well!) and can improve the safety oftravelers (less cars on the road, trains have less accidents pertravelled km);•  Easy connections to different pubic transport systems wouldincrease opportunities even more! And the more we have pubictransport as comfortable and fast option the emissions we emit.•  … and we will have a fast travel option in case of volcanoeruptions! Specially if Poland builds out its high-speed train linksto neighboring countries!

21New possibilities for travelers.With smaller time-space distance there could be:•  Common work-force areas between Tallinn and Pärnu;Pärnu and Riga; Riga and Panevezys; Panevezys andKaunas; Kaunas and Warsaw. But there could also be moreco-operation between Riga and Tallinn or Riga and Kaunasetc!•  Much better access to the Europe (specially for those whoare afraid of flying) and therefore more contacts in all fields;•  Tourist would be attracted to stay longer in Baltic Statesas it is easy to travel and makes stops on the way;•  More co-operation between schools (exchange ofteachers and students)•  etc.You would not need to plan a trip weeks ahead, you wouldhop on and go and be back home by evening!

22The egg and chicken question?No users? Or no infrastructure?Current slow infrastructure = little users.There can be no users as there is no infrastructure!There used to be no boats between Tallinn and Helsinki on Soviet era.We can see that even there was no users, there is now about 8,48million users per year (divided 360 days = ca 23000 trips per dayincluded cruise tourists)!

23You do not use the contacts that are hard for you to use, and youdo not travel weekly or daily bases where it is hard to travel.We need better and faster connections and much more co-operation. Fact is alone Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga and Kaunas or evenwhole Finland, whole Estonia, whole Latvia and whole Lithuania are toosmall in scale of world. Unnoticed! So tightening our relations wouldgive us much better changes.

24Plans alone are not enough! “Finland” “Estonia” “Latvia” “Lithuania” “Poland”

25Final words:Common plan and actual respectful co-operation are two mostimportant aspects – without those nothing happens.Old Chinese proverb says: “The journey of a thousand milesmust begin with a single step.”The next step is to the have the plans that allow building ofRail Baltica in all Baltic States.Time matters - without EU support and good co-operation wejust end up thinking or talking as we have done already toolong! Only well coordinated action and brings us closer totravelling with real trains on Rail Baltic.Thank You!

26 OÜ Head Kaur Lass phone: +372 50 83 906 skype: headandleadinfo@headandlead.com www.headandlead.ee

27 is independent consulting company focused onsharing skills of conscious planning and decision making.Our mission is to help our clients to create consciously thedevelopment they need.

Rail Baltica is more then railroad - Kaur Lass, OÜ Head

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Rail Baltica is more then railroad - Kaur Lass, OÜ Head Presentation Transcript