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On 30 July, the restoration of the tram connection to Tallinn Airport and Ülemiste City was celebrated in the Ülemiste district. Thanks to the completion of the underground tram tunnel beneath the Rail Baltica passenger terminal and the parallel track built at the airport last year, the area will, for the first time, be served by two tram lines from 1 August – T2 and T4 – both operating at 10-minute intervals. 

According to Kadi Pärnits, Chairman of the Management Board of Mainor AS, the decision to establish a tram connection to the area in 2015 was important with future developments in mind, as the number of employees in the district was still modest at the time. “Three years ago, when the tram connection to the campus was interrupted, it was already used by more than 5,000 people every day. Today, nearly 18,000 people live, work and study in the Ülemiste area, and the community is very pleased that tram traffic has been restored after complex construction works. We are especially delighted that the city is bringing as many as two tram lines to Ülemiste, from both Kopli and Tondi, made possible by the airport tram loop built a year ago through the joint efforts of the state and the city. Many thanks to the decision-makers, builders and financiers,” said Pärnits. 

According to Joel Jesse, Tallinn’s Deputy Mayor responsible for transport, the restoration of tram service to the airport has been long awaited and symbolically marks the completion of the Old City Harbour tram line project, making it possible to travel by tram from the harbour to the airport. “From 1 August, Tallinn Airport and Ülemiste City will be served by tram lines from the directions of Kopli and Tondi, providing a more frequent and convenient connection between the airport, Ülemiste and the city centre,” said Jesse. 

“This time, the tram route also includes an important new feature – a parallel branch at the airport that allows trams to pass each other at the terminus when necessary and improves the overall capacity and reliability of the connection. This solution will also give us greater flexibility in increasing tram service frequency in the future. For Tallinn, this is a significant development, as few European cities have such an efficient and high-capacity tram connection to an international airport located so close to the city centre. I am pleased that Tallinn once again has such a connection,” Jesse added. 

The tram line branch completed in October 2025 is 110 metres long. The design work was carried out by Road-Expert OÜ and the construction work by KMG Infra OÜ. The contractual value of the works, excluding VAT, was EUR 851,000. 

According to Anvar Salomets, Chairman of the Management Board of Rail Baltic Estonia, the Ülemiste area is developing into Tallinn’s new gateway and one of its most important hubs, where international and local trains, trams, buses, the airport, and tens of thousands of people who work and study there every day come together. “However, Ülemiste will not become an international transport hub overnight in 2028 when the Rail Baltica Linda terminal is completed. This transformation is already taking place step by step today. Last summer, we opened the first new stop for Elron rail passengers, and now the new tram connection linking the terminal to the airport is ready. These are the first components of the future mobility hub that people can already use today,” said Salomets. 

The tram tunnel was built by AS TREF Nord and ATEMO OÜ as part of the construction of the northern outdoor areas of the Rail Baltica Linda international passenger terminal. The total value of this contract is EUR 20.9 million (+VAT). The construction of the northern outdoor areas of the Linda passenger terminal is financed through European Union and Estonian state budget funds. 

The airport tram connection was interrupted in 2023 due to the construction of the Old City Harbour tram line and later the construction of the Ülemiste railway terminal.