The certification of Stadler Flirt trains to run on Latvian railways, which is taking longer than planned, has postponed the opening of the Tartu-Riga train route, which Estonian passenger train operator Elron was initially scheduled to launch in October.
“The certification of Stadler Flirt trains to run on Latvian railways has turned out to be more labor-intensive than planned and the Tartu-Riga train route will definitely not be opened in October,” Elron board member Märt Ehrenpreis said in a press release.
“We also have to wait for the results of the ongoing budget negotiations, because at the moment funds have only been allocated for the preparation of the launch of the Tartu-Riga route. If the government decides to finance the international route, we can talk more precisely about the schedule for the launch of the route. In the meantime, we will continue preparations to establish readiness to operate on the Latvian railway,” Ehrenpreis added.
Testing of the rolling stock by Latvian certifiers has now started in Estonia, in the coming weeks it is planned to test the compatibility of the train with Latvia’s newly built new railway communication network in Valga, and according to Ehrenpreis, work is being done to ensure that the test runs that are the basis for certification can be carried out on Latvian railways in September-October.
“While until now the focus of the preparation for the opening of the Tartu-Ria route has been on finding out the requirements, assessing compliance with the changed legal space and practices and preparing the corresponding documentation, in the coming weeks the necessary physical tests will be carried out,” he said.
Although some 10 years ago, all Elron trains were brought to Estonia via Latvia, according to the certification procedure, it is necessary to redo a large part of the physical compatibility tests.
The institutions involved in the certification of the Stadler Flirt trains used in Estonia on the Latvian railway include the Latvian State Railway Technical Inspectorate, the European Railway Agency and the Estonian Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority, as well as several companies offering certification services in the field of railway transport. The Tartu–Valga–Riga passenger train connection is being prepared in cooperation with the Estonian Ministry of Climate, the Estonian Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, the City of Tartu, the Latvian passenger train operator Vivi and other Latvian cooperation partners.
Source: BNS
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