INFRASTRUCTURE
RAIL BALTIC ÜLEMISTE TERMINAL
Tallinn’s new multi-modal traffic hub that serves both the network and the local community for the future Rail Baltic Line
T
he British architecture firm, Zaha Hadid Architects, working together with Estonia’s Esplan, have been awarded the first place in the design competition for the new terminal of the Rail Baltic railway at Ülemiste, Tallinn. Rail Baltic is a planned 870 km electrified railway from Tallinn in Estonia to the LithuanianPolish border. The Ülemiste terminal will be the starting point of the Rail Baltic line connecting Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius with the European high-speed rail network.
28 Building & Investment | www.b-i.biz
The Rail Baltic Ülemiste terminal is scheduled to be completed by 2026 and the total construction of the project will cost €40 million (approx. US$45.6 million). Upon completion, Rail Baltic will enable passengers to travel from Tallinn to Parnu in 40 minutes and from Tallinn to Riga in two hours. A MULTI-MODAL TRAFFIC HUB THAT DOUBLES AS A PUBLIC BRIDGE Zaha Hadid’s winning design, titled “Light Stream”, imagines the station as a giant sinuous bridge, snaking perpendicularly
