Having received permission from the European Railway Agency to use three Stadler trains on Latvian railway lines, Elron will begin operating its long-awaited Tartu\u2013Riga train services on January 12.<\/p>\n
Three Elron two-car Stadler Flirt diesel trains will operate on the line between Tartu and Latvian capital Riga.<\/p>\n
“A minimum of three trains are needed to launch the line in order to ensure regular maintenance of the trains takes place,” said Elron management board member M\u00e4rt Ehrenpreis.<\/p>\n
Elron will start its regular service on the Tallinn\u2013Tartu\u2013Valga\u2013Riga line on January 12, with only one departure per day to begin with. A second direct departure will be added once Eesti Raudtee (Estonian Railways) has completed infrastructure work and new \u0160koda trains begin operating on the Tallinn\u2013Tartu line.<\/p>\n
Ehrenpreis said that the opening of the line was somewhat hampered by a traffic accident in Saku municipality on November 27, which meant one diesel train will be out of service for at least a year.<\/p>\n
The Tallinn\u2013Tartu\u2013Riga line is being launched in cooperation with the Latvian passenger train operator Pasa\u017eieru Vilciens (Vivi), whose train drivers will operate the Elron train on the Valga\u2013Riga section of the railway line.<\/p>\n
According to the preliminary timetable, the train will depart from Tallinn at 2.50 p.m., from Tartu at 5.05 p.m., and arrive in Riga at 8.52 p.m.<\/p>\n
In the opposite direction, the train will depart from Riga at 7:40 a.m., arrive in Tartu at 11:25 a.m. and reach Tallinn at 2:11 p.m. A ticket from Tartu to Riga will cost between \u20ac19 and \u20ac22.<\/p>\n
According to Kristo M\u00e4e, head of international business at Elron, the timetable may change slightly at the beginning of the year due to infrastructure work between Valga and Riga on the Latvia side of the border.<\/p>\n
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