“The record number of passengers shows that the Pink Soup Train, even though it’s only in its second year of operation, has already become an integral part of summer tradition. This initiative successfully combines sustainable travel with a unique travel experience inspired by one of Vilnius’s most prominent events, which is why it attracts more and more passengers every year,” says Kristina Meidė, head of LTG Link.
This year, passengers in the middle train car were greeted by a winding river of pink soup, walls and ceilings decorated with pink accents, and uniquely adorned windows. This themed train car is a symbolic invitation to the “Vilnius Pink Soup Fest,” a cold beetroot soup festival taking place in Vilnius.
According to Dovilė Aleksandravičienė, director of “Go Vilnius,” nearly 34,000 international guests attended the festival, now in its fourth year, and the Pink Soup Train became not only an invitation to visit the festival but also an initiative that attracted international attention.
“This year, we organized an exclusive trip for our neighbor Poland, our strategic tourism market, which was particularly well-received by the media, Poland’s largest news portals wrote about the Šaltibarščiai Train, calling it one of a kind in the world. This helped us potentially reach an audience of 53 million in Poland alone and spread the festival’s festive spirit, putting Vilnius on the summer travel map,” says Aleksandravičienė.
Although the train operated on the international Vilnius–Moscow–Vilnius route, the carriage decorated with a pink soup theme was not limited to passengers traveling to Poland. The train also stopped in Lentvaris, Žasliai, Kaišiadorys, Kaunas, Kazlų Rūda, and Marijampolė.
The Pink Soup train, which ran from May 15 to August 16, traveled nearly 90,000 kilometers.