During Occupation, Tallinn and Vilnius Were Close to High-Speed Tram, Riga to Metro
In Soviet urban planning, an unwritten rule existed for metro construction, but the Baltic capitals considered cheaper alternatives – a high-speed tram in Tallinn and Vilnius, while Riga planned a metro.
During the Soviet occupation, ambitious public transport projects were developed in the Baltic capitals. According to an article on Delfi, Tallinn and Vilnius were planned to have a high-speed tram, while Riga was set for a metro. These plans reflected the urban planning practices of the time, where cities with a million inhabitants received a metro, and those with half a million received a light metro. However, in reality, half a million residents did not guarantee a light metro – cheaper solutions like a high-speed tram were often considered.
In Tallinn, a high-speed tram was planned to connect Lasnamäe, Mustamäe, Õismäe, and the city center. This system would have been cheaper than a metro but more powerful than a regular tram. Evidence of this project remains – unusual stops in the middle of Tallinn's Lagna highway, which many see as a quirk of Soviet urban planning. This tram would have fundamentally changed Tallinn's public transport landscape.
In Riga, an underground train – a metro – was planned. Although the project was never implemented, it would have transformed the city similarly to how the metro changed Moscow. The article also mentions that in other Soviet cities, such as Tbilisi, a metro was built even when the population was less than a million.
Overall, these plans show that the Baltic capitals were close to major infrastructure projects during the occupation, but they remained only on paper.
