Rail gauge in the Baltic States

Population density in the Baltic States is low, so local traffic alone would not justify the present rail network. In fact, these railways were built for long-distance traffic, from the start. Most of the region was part of the Russian Empire, and from the Russian perspective, the Baltic railways connected ice-free ports to the imperial …

Revised: Baltic States infrastructure

Updated with new maps: High-speed line Berlin – Riga Regional lines around Kaliningrad High-speed line Kaliningrad – Klaipėda – Liepāja Inter-regional line Kaliningrad – Ełk – Białystok Urban-regional lines in Samland and Kaliningrad Upgrading Warsaw – Vilnius – St. Petersburg line Upgraded line (Ausbaustrecke) Poznań – Sovetsk High-speed line Kaunas – Šakiai – Sovetsk High-speed line …

Revised: high-speed line Berlin – Riga

Revised with new maps: High-speed line Berlin – Riga. The proposed Riga – Tallinn line is now described in a separate post.

Urban-regional lines in Samland and Kaliningrad

The German city of Königsberg developed a small local rail network during the first half of the 20th century, extending into the region of Samland north of the city. Samland (Sambia) is roughly a rectangle bordered by the Baltic Sea, the river Pregel / Pregolya, and the small river Deime / Deyma. The railways served …