Track gauge in Estonia
Estonia mainly uses a track gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) or 1,524 mm (5 ft), inherited from the Russian Empire times.
Russian Gauge
- Soviet Union
Estonia converted relatively late from the Soviet Unions redefinition of the gauge from 1,524 mm (5 ft) to 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in).
- Post-independence
Since post-independence all renovated tracks owned by Eesti Raudtee have gauge 1,524 mm. Other tracks have gauge 1,520 mm.
Standard gauge proposals
There has been a proposal from the EU to build a standard gauge railway from Tallinn to Warsaw, the Rail Baltica. For cost reasons the current plans only see an upgrade of the existing Russian gauge railway to Lithuania over Riga, a new railway through Lithuania, and upgrade through Poland. It will have standard gauge only south of Kaunas, Lithuania, not in Estonia.
Narrow gauge
Historically Estonia had 750 mm (2 ft 5 1⁄2 in) narrow-gauge installations.