The passenger rail connection between Vilnius and Riga, which was interrupted almost twenty years ago, was restored on Wednesday. The carrier is LTG Link, a passenger transport subsidiary of Lithuanian Railways. According to Lithuanian leaders, the connection could be extended to Tallinn, but here the decision lies with Latvia and Estonia.
Probably, many people still remember Chaika, the railway pride of that time, which ran between Tallinn and Minsk, before the crown, a train ran between Kiev and Riga, but the daily regular rail connection from Vilnius to Riga is long-awaited and very necessary.
Polish-made Pesa 730 ML trains are widely used in Lithuania. There is a direct route from Riga to Vilnius, via Jelgava. The distance between the capitals is covered in just over four hours. Now you can’t even get there faster by car.
There are 142 seats on the train and a standard class ticket costs 24 euros. Trading platforms are used on the territory of Latvia. For comparison, Elron, which uses a state subsidy, charges more than 20 euros to take Valga to Tallinn, for example.
“The train is especially necessary for those who do not have their own transport. And now you don’t have to think about parking when you go to a big city. So this is a great solution,” said the passenger from Joniškis.
There are many trips between Riga and Vilnius. Air Baltic operates nearly 40 weekly flights between the two cities.
Lithuanian Transport Minister Marius Skuodis believes that now Latvians could also travel by train on the same line. The new line promises to be very popular, many New Year’s Eve are already sold out.
If Latvia and Estonia are interested in restoring the direct rail connection from Riga to Tallinn, Lithuanians are ready to adjust travel times.
“Estonians absolutely want the train to go to Tallinn. So all three countries also need to take the next steps. It would be much more convenient to travel not only to Riga, but also from there. We also need a passenger rail connection from Lithuania in Daugavpils,” said Marius Skuodis.
Today it can be said that Rail Baltic was partly created even before Rail Baltic itself. Since there is also a train connection from Vilnius to Warsaw and other Polish cities, these travel options are widely used.
2023-12-27 19:26:00
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