The Ukraine war is forcing eastern Europe to build more links

WHY DO TRAVELLERS take the bus in the Baltic countries? Their capitals—Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius—are only about 600km (370 miles) apart, a perfect distance for fast rail. But the winding train journey takes 12 hours and includes several changes. This is part of a broader problem. Look at any map of infrastructure links in eastern Europe, be they road, rail or pipeline: most run east-west. A few slow or minor routes run north-south.