Lithuania’s Pink Soup Train, also known as the ‘Šaltibarščiai Train’ (‘Šaltibarščiai’ is the Lithuanian name for cold beetroot soup), has ended its season after running from mid-May. The Pink Soup Train ran from 15 May to 16 August and covered almost 90,000 kilometres.
This summer, approximately 64,000 passengers travelled on the Pink Soup Train, operated by LTG Link, a passenger transport company within the LTG Group, and Go Vilnius, the Vilnius business and tourism development agency. Compared with last year, passenger numbers were more than three times higher.
“The record number of passengers shows that the Pink Soup Train, even though it is only in its second year of operation, has already become an integral part of the summer tradition. This initiative successfully combines sustainable travel with a unique experience inspired by one of Vilnius’s most important events, which is why it attracts more and more passengers every year,” says Kristina Meidė, CEO of LTG Link.
The Pink Soup Train, specially decorated for the Vilnius festival
This year, passengers in the central railcar were greeted by a winding river of pink soup, whilst the walls and ceilings were decorated with pink accents and the windows featured special decorations. The themed railcar serves as a symbolic invitation to the “Vilnius Pink Soup Fest”, the festival dedicated to cold beetroot soup held in Vilnius.
Almost 34,000 international visitors attended the festival, now in its fourth year. The Pink Soup Train has become not only an invitation to the festival, but also an initiative that has attracted international attention. “This year, we organised an exclusive trip for our neighbours in Poland, our strategic tourism market, which was very well received by the media. Poland’s largest news portals wrote about the Šaltibarščiai Train, describing it as unique in the world,” said Dovilė Aleksandravičienė, CEO of the Go Vilnius agency.
Although the train ran on the international Vilnius–Moscow–Vilnius route, the railcar decorated with a pink soup theme was not intended exclusively for passengers travelling to Poland. The train also stopped at Lentvaris, Žasliai, Kaišiadorys, Kaunas, Kazlų Rūda and Marijampolė.
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