[11][12] On 8 February 2024, Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications Lulu Ranne told Estonian daily Postimees that the tunnel is "unrealistic" and not on the agenda of the government, with the project remaining on hold unless further funding is provided by the European Union.

Some eight million journeys are made by ferry each year, including both leisure cruises and scheduled commuter services.

An application is now planned to the EU to gain the additional funds needed for a comprehensive survey, estimated to cost between €500,000 and €800,000.

The European Union will cover 85 % of the survey costs and the cities of Helsinki and Tallinn and the Harju County will pay the rest.

The survey recommended the tunnel to be built for railway connections only with the traveling time between Helsinki and Tallinn being half an hour by train.

[19] On 4 January 2016, it was announced that the transport ministers of Finland and Estonia as well as the leadership of the cities of Helsinki and Tallinn will sign a memorandum on traffic cooperation between the two countries, including a further study to examine the feasibility of the tunnel.

Vesterbacka has made a tentative deal with Chinese investment company called Touchstone Capital Partners.

On 26 April 2021, the governments of Estonia and Finland signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on mutual cooperation in the transport sector.

[28] Geopolitically, the tunnel would connect two close but separated parts of the European Union in an environmentally friendly way, removing the need to use sea or air transport, or to travel through Russia.

Tentative plans have been made to build separate freight stations in Southern Finland (Riihimäki and Tampere have been suggested) to load trains outside Helsinki for transportation through the tunnel.

Tampere and Helsinki Airport could also host passenger terminals for trains heading to Tallinn and onwards to Central Europe.