Eesti Liinirongid, which is the Estonia passenger train operator operating under the Elron brand name, has announced that it will test a passenger train along the Riga-Valga section from Monday, April 22, to Wednesday, April 24, LETA has learned from Elon representatives.
The company’s board member, Mart Ehrenpreis, says that a two-car train was already test-driven in February, and this week the test will be of a three-wagon train along the Latvian rail infrastructure.
Ehrenpreis adds that the test run will also inspect signalling, safety systems and radio communications.
“The test runs are essential if Estonia’s Stadler Flirt passenger trains are to be certified for operations in Latvia,” the board member argues. “The aim is to start regularly scheduled Tartu-Riga passenger services this summer, but the exact date will depend on the outcome of the certification process.”
The Latvian State Railway Technical Inspectorate has issued a permit to Elron to allow it to carry out the test runs.
Passenger services between Riga and Tartu were originally due to be launched by October 2023, but they are now scheduled to start later this summer.
The Riga-Valga-Tartu rail line is being developed by Elron in co-operation with the Estonian Ministry of Climate and Ministry of Regional Affairs, the City of Tartu, the Latvian national passenger train operator Pasazieru Vilciens, and other partners in Latvia.
In January, Pasazieru Vilciens joined with LTG Link in Lithuania and Elron in Estonia to launch train services from Tallinn to Vilnius via Tartu and Riga. The journey takes more than hours and requires a change of trains in Valga.
In late December 2023, LTG Link, which is the passenger transport subsidiary of the state-owned Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai railway group, launched train services between Riga and Vilnius.
Talk of linking the three Baltic capitals with passenger train routes began in September 2021, when the Baltic Express travelled from Tallinn via Riga and on to Vilnius as part of the European Year of Railways. Then-serving government ministers, representatives of the Baltic rail industry and the European Commission, as well as the promoters of the Rail Baltic project were all on hand for that trip.
Source: BNS
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