Transport infrastructure in the Baltic States during the transformation to market economies

Abstract

This paper presents a brief survey of the current condition of the three most important infrastructural systems for transport, namely rail, road and seaports, in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania following their breaking away from the governmental and economic federation of the former Soviet Union. The analysis focuses upon the capabilities and deficiencies of goods transport. The thesis will be presented that, as in the past, transit on an East-West axis between CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) states and Western Europe has the greatest economic significance, whereas the North-South connections — project ‘Via Baltica’ — are of predominantly political importance. In view of this thesis, the key function of the Baltic seaports within the transport network of the Baltic region will have to be deduced. A stock-taking shows the rail network to be the weakest of the three infrastructural systems examined, the most critical aspect being the poor condition of the railway embankments. On the whole, since roads are, obviously, in a better condition, powerful tendencies towards a ‘modal shift’ from rail to road transport seem inevitable. Considering these tendencies, the development of roadside facilities along the transit routes as well as the RO/RO and container facilities in the Baltic seaports has utmost priority in the current phase.