EUROPE: The national passenger train operators of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have launched co-ordinated services to make it more practical to travel between Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn by rail.
Although travel was possible for the very determined rail user, the links between the three countries have long been regarded as a gap in the European passenger rail map.
‘By co-ordinating the train schedules in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, we are creating regular train connections between these three countries, which has not been the case for almost 30 years’, said Lauri Betlem, Chair of Estonia’s Elron when the services were launched on January 6.
’Although it was theoretically possible to travel by train between the capitals before, the new schedules will make transfers much more convenient. This connection is particularly important for southern Estonia, as it significantly improves the region’s international connections.’
| Operator | Stations | Northbound | Southbound |
|---|---|---|---|
| LTG Link | Vilnius | 07.05 | 21.03 |
| Riga | 11.04 | 16.55 | |
| Vivi | Riga | 11.16 | 16.37 |
| Valga | 13.51 | 14.11 | |
| Elron | Valga | 14.10 | 13.54 |
| Tallinn | 17.34 | 10.25 |
Joining forces
CEO of Lithuania’s LTG Link Kristina Meidė said the co-ordination of international services typically takes more than a year, but the three countries had achieved it within six months.
The timetable ‘is an example of what the Baltic States can achieve by joining forces to improve the mobility of their residents’, Latvia’s Transport Minister Kaspars Briškens said when the agreement was confirmed in December. ’This idea has been discussed for years.’
Planned enhancements
Varying national tax requirements and the capabilities of each carrier’s IT systems mean that separate tickets must be bought for each operator, and these do not form a single transport contract. Work is currently under way to roll out a simpler ticketing system in Q1 2025.
The total journey time from Tallinn to Vilnius under the timetable launched in January 6 is about 10½ h, but it is hoped that the completion of infrastructure repairs in Estonia could reduce this by an hour. It is also envisaged that one of the changes of train could be eliminated.
Raitis Nešpors, Chair of Latvia’s Vivi, said all three operators are pursuing a common goal to improve connectivity between the Baltic States, and ‘the work that has been started to promote mobility between the states will be continued’.
