Railway connection may appear between Tartu and Riga

photo: Wikipedia/Railway connection may appear between Tartu and Riga

It is necessary to establish a regular railway connection between Tartu and Riga, said Tartu Mayor Urmas Klaas. In his opinion, the issue of trains should be included in the agenda in the dialogue between the governments of Estonia and Latvia.

“By 2024, transport connections in the direction of Tallinn will be even better than they are today - the train from Tartu to Tallinn will take 1 hour and 35 minutes, and new trains will run on the electrified railway. At the same time, there is a real opportunity to establish a railway connection between Riga and Tartu, but this already requires close cooperation between the governments of Estonia and Latvia,” said the Mayor of Tartu, noting that it is already necessary to start coordinating the train schedule between Latvia and Estonia.

The head of the Estonian railway company Eesti Raudtee, Kaido Zimmermann, said that it would be possible to open train traffic between the two cities no later than 2024.

According to Klaas, transport access to Tartu and southern Estonia will be especially relevant in 2024, as Tartu, together with 19 Estonian municipalities, will assume the title of European Capital of Culture.

“The status of the European Capital of Culture will open the way to Tartu for a large number of people, and therefore it is necessary to work to ensure that Tartu and South Estonia have a fast and safe connection with the whole world - by air, road and rail,” added Klaas.

On Tuesday, a special train stopped in Tartu within the framework of the European Year of Railways - 2021 Connecting Europe Express. The arrival of this train also drew attention to the topic of the railway connection between Tartu and Riga.