Public transport in Tallinn
Public transport in Tallinn consists of bus, tram, trolleybus, train, and ferry services.
The horse-drawn tram lines ran on the Narva, Tartu and Pärnu main roads, routes that remain in use today.
The use of trams as public transport was very popular during the period of the independent Republic of Estonia before World War II and the German and Soviet occupations.
The retreating Red Army stole rolling stock in 1941, and the German occupiers dismantled the electricity grids.
Narrow-gauge railway passenger train traffic in Tallinn (with one of the most important stops at the port) operated from the beginning of the 20th century until the Soviet occupation forces liquidated them.
The light rail project halted when Estonia regained independence from the Soviet Union's occupation, with planning resumed in the 2000s.
Tallinna Transpordiamet (Tallinn Department of Transportation) sets the routes and timetables, and the contracts are renewed every five years.
These buses were considered suitable for the Nordic climate of Tallinn, as they had already been used in other Northern European countries such as Finland, Latvia, Sweden and Norway.
[18] Regional bus routes are managed by the Harjumaa Ühistranspordikeskus (HÜTK) (Harju County Public Transportation Centre).
The goal of the centre is to arrange public transportation in Harju County to raise the quality of the service provided.
Tallinn's tram network is 19.7 kilometres (12.2 mi) long, and serves mainly the city centre and its surrounding areas.
These trams should arrive by 2027 to cover the needs of the additional line network capacity in the direction of Pelguranna and Liivalaia.
In 2024, Tallinn city government approved an additional to purchase 40 new trolleybuses with off-wire capability for 29 million euros.
[citation needed] They serve the Greater Tallinn Area in Harju County and travel through the Kristiine, Nõmme and Lasnamäe districts of the city.
Harju County routes and commuter trains (Elron) have a different fare system, which depends on the distance traveled.
Public transport vehicles can generally be entered from all doors, and tickets (Ühiskaart) should be validated immediately upon entry.
[clarification needed] TLT has announced that by 2025 there will be no diesel buses operating in Tallinn public transportation.
[39][9] An interim report in 2019 suggested that Põhja-Tallinn needed a new tram line because of building work that would lead to increased populations there, and that main tram lines should go from the city centre to Väike-Õismäe (Astangu), Mustamäe, Järve, Priisle, Maardu, Kopli, Stroomi, Viimsi, Peetri (Jüri) and Tabasalu.
Tallinn city government has decided not to follow this plan, instead buying 40 new trolleybuses with off-wire capability to replace the old ones.
[citation needed] 27.6 million euros has been allocated for design and construction of the first stage of a plan to modernize the network infrastructure.
According to plan, no new railway lines need to be constructed, but some that are currently used only for freight will additionally carry commuter trains.
[9] In 2019, Estonia's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications proposed a ring rail line[clarification needed] to better connect the Eastern and Western parts of Tallinn.
[citation needed] The planned new line to the south will allow freight to be redirected away from Tallinn city centre, freeing capacity for commuter trains.
and local train stations on it, but it wouldn't reach to Saue parish, so that part would have to be built in addition (14 km).
All these parishes especially Rae and Saue are rapidly developing as huge low density suburban regions, although they're not part of Tallinn.
According to plans, these two terminals should be the places where train, bus and tram routes connect to each other for easier and more convenient transfer between different public transportation vehicles.
Creating new bicycle paths has proven to be the most difficult in the city centre where some roads are historically very narrow and others have a lot of car traffic.
According to the Tallinn cycling strategy, core network path type bicycle roads are meant to be separated from both cars and pedestrians to ensure the safety of all infrastructure users.
The Estonian media has been highlighting how dangerous the current state of bicycle paths in the city centre is, and how cheaply they could be temporarily rectified.
The goal is for bicycles and bikes to become the fastest means of transportation in the city centre, and they also have their own space for movement."
