For anyone wondering why Eastern Europe is so badly connected, it's mainly because the Russian Empire used a different gauge to the rest of Europe: https://en.

For anyone wondering why Eastern Europe is so badly connected, it's mainly because the Russian Empire used a different gauge to the rest of Europe: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_gauge https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_gauge In the Baltics there is an ongoing project to upgrade and switch to standard gauge, which will provide a direct link from Berlin to Helsinki (to start with via ferry, but a tunnel is planned). However a lot of trade done there is with Russia via rail, so it's beneficial for them to keep that as seamless as possible - switching passengers is one thing, cargo is another. Lithuania apparently transports 57% of goods by rail. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_Baltica https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_Baltica