A train line launched between the capitals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in January has exceeded expectations and sales of bus tickets on the same route have dropped by more than 25%.
The almost 10-hour route links Talllinn, Tartu, Riga and Vilnius and was introduced to increase connections between the Baltic States. Rail Baltic, which will run from Tallinn via Parnu and Riga to Kaunas, will not be completed for several years.
Mart Ehrenpreis, board member of Estonia’s passenger train provider Elron, said it had been hard to meet demand at times.
“Roughly half the passengers are traveling between Tartu and Riga, and there’s also a lot of traffic to Vilnius,” he said.
“In the near future, an additional Riga-bound connection will launch on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, so there will be two services toward Riga. But on the return leg, there is still only the one current connection due to the railway infrastructure reconstruction schedule,” the Elron board member added.
Comprehensive passenger statistics for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are still being compiled.
“But what’s interesting is that, initially, we were skeptical, wondering whether people would really want to travel to Vilnius. Surprisingly, many have traveled the entire route,” Ehrenpreis noted.
Ingmar Roos, head of business operations in Estonia for Lux Express, said that passenger numbers on their Tartu-Riga and Tartu-Vilnius routes had dropped by about 20% to 25%.
Starting this autumn, the number of daily departures will drop from three to two.
Roos acknowledged that Lux Express had not changed its ticket prices because of the new rail service.
A train ticket from Tallinn to Vilnius costs EUR 39 and a bus ticket on a Lux Express coach is approximately the same price. The bus is around an hour faster. (ERR)