# LATVIA | Railways



## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*LDz to modernize 16 stations*

It seems that LDz has found some more money so instead of the initial 13 there will actually be 16 stations that will be modernized.
The modernization includes construction of new, 550 mm high platforms, new information systems and CCTV.









The picture is only for illustrative purposes. It is a small station (11 houses within 1km radius) Ozolsala on the line to Krustpils that is currently being modernized. Picture by Juris Stalažs.

*The majority of the stations to be modernized will be in the resort town of Jūrmala* where out of the 11 stations located in the main part of the city 10 will be modernized. 3 more will be modernized in the _e-talons_ electronic ticket zone of Rīga on the same line to Jūrmala. While the last three will be on the line to Jelgava.

Stations to be modernized: Zolitūde, Imanta, Babīte, Lielupe, Bulduri, Dzintari, Majori, Dubulti, Pumpuri, Melluži, Asari, Vaivari, Sloka, Olaine, Cukurfabrika, Jelgava. (map)

http://www.sam.gov.lv/?cat=8&art_id=4073


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*PV to modernize 6 DMUs*

PV (Passenger train) has signed a 21,98 million euro contract with the local RVR, VRC Zasulauks and Daugavpils LRR for the modernization of 6 DR1A DMUs until 2015.










The modernized trains will be made accessible for disabled persons, will feature new doors, seats, information systems, climate control, even more space for bicycles, CCTV and Wi-Fi. 5 of the trains will have a_ Comfort class_ compartment with 16 seats.

There will also be new engines, electrical equipment and cab controls. The trains will have a new livery and there will be made some alterations to the body of the trains so IMO there will probably be a facelift. So the end result should look like this:









*Last year PV has had an increase in passenger amounts
*
This is the first time that passenger amounts have grown since 2007! The increase was by just 12 872 passengers compared to last year so the total amount of passengers carried in 2013 was 19,42 million.

The main reason for the increase was the warm summer but 2013 also saw the first trains with _Comfort class_ compartments and the introduction of Wi-Fi as well as e-talons electronic ticket system in Rīga. Since today the e-talons system in Rīga is fully operational. Before today only scholars, pensioners and disabled persons could use the system.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Train procurement update*

*Pasažieru vilciens*

Currently Hyundai is with a very good chance of beating Stadler in our train procurement - from the currently possible maximum of 790 points Hyundai currently could have about 750 while Stadler only 568 points. The end result will determine the winner.

http://www.db.lv/sodien-laikraksta/cina-par-vilcienu-pasutijumu-saasinas-412847
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*LDz*










LDz have announced the procurement for a heavy freight draisine and for 3 more modernized ČME3M locomotives (as in the picture above).

There is also a picture of the second LDz's new booster ČME3MB-02 (in the picture below).










http://www.ldz.lv/


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## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

^^ I hope Hyundai wins the procurement. That would bring some diversity to the rolling stock in this region. Stadler Flirt is too common :lol:


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## XAN_ (Jan 13, 2011)

Well, first experience of Hyundai in 1520 EMU area was kinda disastrous.


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## Eiropro (May 18, 2013)

XAN_ said:


> Well, first experience of Hyundai in 1520 EMU area was kinda disastrous.


I heard Ukraine has big problems with them. What is warranty time for a train?


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## XAN_ (Jan 13, 2011)

Eiropro said:


> I heard Ukraine has big problems with them. What is warranty time for a train?


2 years, warranty for the first batch of train would end this spring.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

XAN_ said:


> Well, first experience of Hyundai in 1520 EMU area was kinda disastrous.


What were the issues with those trains?


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## XAN_ (Jan 13, 2011)

Nexis said:


> What were the issues with those trains?


At first trains expected frequent pantograph breakdowns and frequent freezing of undercar equipment. After fixing these problems, cracks in bodies and bogies were found, so now all trains are withdrawn from service.
Inspection of track and catenary along the route revealed, that while they are less favourable to a train that common in Europe for example, they are totally within the characteristics provided in contract.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Some photos of Aizkraukle station reconstruction, Muldakmens stop reconstruction and doubling of the Skrīveri - Muldakmens part.
(made by user Виктор of parovoz.com)









Aizkraukle station. Current end of overhead electrification. The station now has a slightly changed track layout with all new tracks, signaling, platforms and overhead wire infrastructure.









Looking towards Rīga.









3 km long Aizkraukle - Muldakmens double track section.









5 km long Muldakmens - Skrīveri section. The section that is undergoing doubling.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*RVR is now under new management*

Now the factory will focus on suburban EMU's and low floor trams for the developing countries. It's been a very long time since a new train model has been projected in the factory - everything was based on the 70ies DR1 and ER1 projects.

Recently the factory has been involved in producing crew trains for Russian railways and currently is building very minimalistic-looking tourist trains for Novij Afin:




























The factory along with two others is also currently modernizing our Pasažieru vilciens' DMUs:


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

A small compilation of Latvian level crossing incident CCTV footage. If you only want to see what happens when 5300 tonnes of freight train hit an idiotic pedestrian, fast forward to 0:40.






Don't give in to the devils!


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## Tin_Can (Jun 17, 2009)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


>


Heh,quite nostalgic sight - those are our old electric trains which were sold to RVR. I wonder what they are going to do with those.


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## Theijs (Aug 15, 2012)

Tin_Can said:


> Those are our old electric trains which were sold to RVR. I wonder what they are going to do with those.


they will be refurbished and sold to a central Asian country within the CIS. I forgot its name.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Money stuff*

The government won't take dividends from Latvian Railways' 2013 revenue this year so the company can spend all of its revenue (79,9 million euro) on continuing the major infrastructure projects including but not limited to _Bolderāja 1 - Zasulauks_ resignalling, _Bolderāja 2_ station and connecting rail link to Krievu sala construction, _Skrīveri - Krustpils_ double tracking and _Šķirotava_ hump yard reconstruction.

There will also be a bunch of new projects to be completed by the end of 2015 at a cost of 159,1 million euro (of which most is EU funding; only 29,7 millions will be LDz money)


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Rīga Krasta bypass*

The short new section of Rīga Krasta station bypass, linking Rīga Preču station with Kundziņsala port terminals, has recently been completed. Currently it is used only by some trains during the night, but in time the station Rīga Krasta will be closed entirely, and all train traffic will use the new bypass.

Looking towards Rīga Krasta (tracks to the left) the bypass branches off to the right









Looking towards Rīga Preču









Diamonds with a short industrial branch









Entry to the port territory


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Turns out that the bypass isn't opened yet. It will be opened on 16th of June.

And there was some more info about it:
Currently Rīga Krasta station is used over capacity, handling up to 13 pairs of trains every day while it is projected to handle just 8. And with a prognosed increase in freight volume this needed to be solved. Currently only 2 trains run to the Kundziņsala terminals. But a rise to 5 is projected after the opening of the bypass. And that number will grow as the port grows.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Gr-319 has been restored*

After 6 years of repairs and restoration works the 65 year old 750 mm narrow gauge steam locomotive Gr-319 has been restored. On the 13th of June important people gathered for the naming of the locomotive. The locomotive will now be known as Ferdinands.





























This is how it looked before repairs:


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

Where is that steam locomotive in use, or is it in use? Is it some heritage narrow gauge line? Steam locomotives are getting fewer and fewer, also on heritage lines. I do understand the reasons for that of course, the technology is outdated after all, but these locomotives are such a great thing for eg children. Its technology alive where you can still see and understand what is going on (at least the basic principle). In our modern world where everything is getting increasingly abstract, but steam locomotives do not feel abstract at all.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

The locomotive was given to us by the Estonian museum railway and will be used on special occasions (festivals) on our 33 km Gulbene - Alūksne narrow gauge railway. It is a heritage railway, but it serves the small villages with two trains in both directions every day, unlike most heritage railways in the region, which run only on weekends. The ticket is just 3,41 euros. But the trains are usually pulled by diesel locomotives:









The only railway in Latvia with steam locomotives in regular service is the Ventspils museum railway which uses two 600 mm gauge _Brigadelok_ locomotives: Ml-611 and Ml-631:









As for children - Rīga used to have a children's railway - a railway almost entirely operated by children. But it closed in 1997. Most locomotives and rolling stock were taken to Gulbene - Alūksne railway.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

To take a break from the news reels - some pictures!









_Rail Baltica_ towards Rīga between Jugla and Baltezers



























New platforms U/C at Baltezers stop









The old Rīga-bound platform at Baltezers stop

Pictures taken by me.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

This weekend the weather is so good that Pasažieru Vilciens are using all 24 electric trains. Trains to Jūrmala run about every 10 minutes!! (Previous weekends it was 15 minutes)


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

Is that line being upgraded w/ Electrification?


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

^^
Sadly no... Those are the remains of electrification

In late 1980ies (there's not much information) electrification was planned to reach Sigulda.

After reclaiming independence from the Soviet Union (1990) Latvia was left with electrified portions Zemitāni - Čiekurkalns - Jugla - Garkalne (20 km) and Brasa - Čiekurkalns (1 km). (Picture)

Since there were still 30 km to Sigulda unelectrified, all towns were very small and the state had no money, they decided to discontinue to electrification. They dismantled the electrification on portions Jugla - Garkalne and Brasa - Čiekurkalns.

Zemitāni - Čiekurkalns - Jugla (6 km) electrification lasted until 2013. But it never saw a regular electric train service. (Picture before) (Picture after)

------------
Soon though LDz plans to upgrade ~700 km of routes with AC electrification. And also upgrade the current 200 km of electrification from DC to AC.
But this won't include the Rīga - Sigulda line. That will be upgraded to allow 120 km/h diesel trains.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Latvian Railways 95*




Latvian Railways - with power and inspiration already for 95 years!

Latvian Railways - with 12 000 workers the largest company in Latvia - has become a stable leader in rail transport in the Baltics.

In the first half of 2014 freight volumes have grown by 4,7% to 30,8 million tons.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*New monument* dedicated in memory of the film _L’arrivée d’un train à La Ciotat_ (1896) and our cinema festival _Arsenāls_ has been unveiled at Ķeipene railway station










_Arsenāls_ was a local cinema festival which after 25 years has ceased to exist just like everything connected to it - the _Jūras pērle/Sea pearl_ restaurant where you could enjoy a dance with the foreign guests and the _Daile_ palace where a multimedia exposition took place.

The new monument, onto which the sun casts a line of squares that resembles the sides of film frames, makes you think about.. well I don't know even how to translate it... your thoughts basically. The author says that "when exiting the tunnel you won't be the same person that entered it. Every moment we edit our own movie and life ourselves."

Ķeipene station is located on the former Rīga - Ērgļi railway. It was never fully completed because the start of WWII. The railway was closed in 2007 and dismantled in 2009. For esthetic reasons there are still 700 meters of tracks in Ķeipene station.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Latvia - the least used passenger trains in European Union*
or so at least the Swiss claim...

The Latvian trains do the least amount of train kilometers per one inhabitant of the country. I'm struggling to see how is that in any kind useful information, except that it shows that the Swiss are best at it. In the world.

And in the "passenger rides per one inhabitant of the country" chart we don't show at all. But our neighbors Estonia and Lithuania are at the very bottom. And, guess what? Yes, Switzerland is the best in the EU at that. By my calculations, Latvia should be around the lower half of the chart but not at the very bottom. Next to Portugal, with 10 rides per inhabitant (by CSB data).

But the reason behind low amounts of train km per inhabitant is... Rīga. Half of the country lives in Rīga and don't need to use the train. The other half lives in the countryside with population density too low for trains to be a viable use of transportation - even the buses run half empty.

The Swiss charts are here


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## XAN_ (Jan 13, 2011)

Swiss aren't part of EU.


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## XAN_ (Jan 13, 2011)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> Latvia - the least used passenger trains in European Union
> or so at least the Swiss claim...
> 
> The Latvian trains do the least amount of train kilometers per one inhabitant of the country. I'm struggling to see how is that in any kind useful information, except that it shows that the Swiss are best at it. In the world.
> ...


Well, Latvians may use trains to travel to other Baltic states... But the connections aren't that good, even if they are better then 2-3 years ago.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

XAN_ said:


> Swiss aren't part of EU.


Oops. forgot. In that case it's really hard to understand these charts at all. It's more than the EU (Norway and Switzerland), but it's less than Europe as it doesn't have Moldova, Ukraine and other European countries.

As for our long distance services - the infrastructure costs since 2006 have risen almost 4 times to 5,83 €/km which, combined with ticket prices of 0,04 €/km and population density of 16 people/sq. km, makes train operating seriously expensive in the countryside. People want fast and frequent services but all we can afford are 1-3 trains per day that stop at all stations. Instead of, let's say, half hourly expresses and hourly stopping services.


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## Sunfuns (Mar 26, 2012)

Why are then Estonians with a similar population density and distribution apparently using trains four times as often? 

I read somewhere that the least train friendly country in Europe (other than micro states and Iceland which has no trains) is Albania and the total number of kilometres driven yearly in that country is reached in Netherlands in 6 hours.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

I don't know. With a 50% increase of passengers due to new trains, Estonia this year will have about 6 million passengers. While Latvia - 20 million.

For Estonia (a country of 1,3 million) it means 4,6 journeys per head. While for Latvia (a country of 2 million) it means 10 journeys per head.
This data is for the chart in page 2 of the Swiss report. The chart in which Latvia isn't included.

As for the chart in page 3 - I still don't understand it. Train kilometers per one inhabitant! The freshest trainkilometer data I can find is from 2011 - back then passenger trains did 6,4 million trainkilometers. And 6,4 million trainkilometers divided by 2 million people is 3,2 trainkm per head. NOT EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE TO THE 40 TRAINKM PER HEAD OF THE SWISS REPORT. WHAT THE ****?


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## chornedsnorkack (Mar 13, 2009)

Was it trainkilometres, or passengerkilometres?


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

chornedsnorkack said:


> Was it trainkilometres, or passengerkilometres?


It said Bahnkilometer which translates to trainkilometer, not passengerkilometer.

But, looking at the data, it seems that it might be actually passengerkilometers per head! For both Lithuania and Estonia I got exactly the same numbers! And I figured out why Latvia shows at the last place - they counted *only international trains*. Then we really have 40 passengerkilometers per head. If they have found the total numbers, then we would end up with *365 passengerkilometers per head*. Right between Slovenia and Ireland.


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## MarcVD (Dec 1, 2008)

XAN_ said:


> Well, Latvians may use trains to travel to other Baltic states... But the connections aren't that good, even if they are better then 2-3 years ago.


As far as I know, connections between baltic states are extremely 
unpractical. No direct trains at all, only possible using local trains and change
at the border, only one trip per day, and for the Vilnius-Riga connection,
an hotel night en route is required. No wonder why everyone takes the bus...
But every baltic capital still has a direct train to Moscow...


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## ArtManDoo (Aug 5, 2008)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> *Latvia - the least used passenger trains in European Union*
> or so at least the Swiss claim...
> 
> The Latvian trains do the least amount of train kilometers per one inhabitant of the country. I'm struggling to see how is that in any kind useful information, except that it shows that the Swiss are best at it. In the world.
> ...


There is nothing wrong about these charts, also swiss people didn't fabricate those. The charts are based on eurostat data. 

Passengerkilometers by train per year speaks more about usage than rail passengers per year, that’s why it’s better. If a person chooses 10 times a train for 20km journey and 5 times a car for 50km journey then actually he has used car more than train (250km by car vs 200km by train) despite of he took half less journeis by car. It’s not useful for only swiss but also other countries. Why trains are popular mode of transportation in Switzerland? Their system is really good, I recommend every transportation guru to go and see and feel that it is one of best in whole world.

Why is Latvia the last one? The source data is as follows: 721 000 000 passnegerKm per year and about 20 000 000 rail passengers per year: it makes ~40km for every passenger who goes by train. How correct is the source data I really don't know. 

The train is viable for most mainlines that exist in Latvia. The problem is that there are no trains and the few ones that are are old and maybe people prefer bus and car. It doesn't mean that people are not willing to use train. There are lot's of examples as you know by yourself also, you also are familiar with other problems I think. Riga - Sigulda - Valmiera - Valga trains are very slow, no fast services. Riga - Jelgava - Liepaja, only two trains per week to the city that is third in population in Latvia. Riga - Ventspils, no passenger services. Maybe the best situation for long distance is on Riga - Krustpils - Daugavpils route but still only one fast "dinaburga" . What goes for all services is that platforms are low and it is hard to climb on the train especially when you have travel bag or a bike. 

What goes for Estonia, there is no 50% more passengers. If the fools who ordered the new trains had more brains to take into account higher demand due to higher quality of service then Estonia would see 50% rise or even higher. The seats are not comfortable, even Helsinki commuter trains have better seats and there is no on-board catering. Also no enough room for childcarriages and bikes. 

If there will be 6 billion passengers this year then the rise will be about 9% from 5,5 billions in 2007. In the time between 2007 and 2013 there were rail renovation works and lot's of confuse that caused lower passenger levels.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

ArtManDoo said:


> *There is nothing wrong about these charts*, also swiss people didn't fabricate those.


There is - for some reason they had only _Latvijas ekspresis_ data. If they had taken the total passenger amounts (729 million pkm) and divided them by the 2 million population, Latvia would have had a number 365 which is next to Ireland.

But our passenger amounts were declining ever since 2006. Only last year we finally saw an increase: passengerkilometer amount grew by 4 million and passenger numbers grew by 22 thousand.

While Estonia has fully upgraded all the tracks, trains and stations (which is now going to do magic with the passenger amounts), we do only a handful of things. Tracks do get upgraded to 120 all the time but the train schedules are still for 70 km/h (so to not disturb the freight trains), the station repairs are minor - if for some reason the station does get new platforms, they are low ones. Only EU money stations get high platforms. As for new trains - we don't seem to be able to buy any  It's no wonder that on my table lamp I have an Estonian flag, not Latvian.


BTW Do you really mean 6 *billion* passengers a year? In Estonia?! That's something that we in Latvia had in late 1980ies - with *overcrowded 10-car* trains running *every 5 minutes*. I am pretty sure you meant "6 million" as in "6 000 000"


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## ArtManDoo (Aug 5, 2008)

^^

Indeed they have maid a typo there. They have divided the passengerKm to rail passengers but not population as should be. The right number is indeed about 365km per one latvian. 

As for Estonia, the millions are what I meant.


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## tunnel owl (May 19, 2013)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> ^^
> Soon though LDz plans to upgrade ~700 km of routes with AC electrification. And also upgrade the current 200 km of electrification from DC to AC.
> But this won't include the Rīga - Sigulda line. That will be upgraded to allow 120 km/h diesel trains.


New electrification will be 2AC 50/25 kV 50 Hz. As a member of EU Latvia and LDz will follow EU-codes and the TSI, which means a new start for Latvia railway. 

Besides changing existing 3 kV DC to AC routes for electrification are planned as followed:

Ventspils - Tukums - Jelgava - Krustpils - Rezekne
Aizkraukie - Plavinas - Krustpils - Daugavpils

This is mainly meant for better freight Service between Russia and baltic ports, but Liepaja is not foreseen for electrification. Also parts at the border willl be hopefully added later.

My personal hope is, that this will introduce a european standard commuter service for Riga.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Some photos of stations in the seaside town of Seaside :lol: (Jūrmala translates to Seaside)
The town has 14 stops along a single railway line, and 10 of those are less than a kilometer from the sandy beach. The railway sees trains up to every 10 minutes on some days.

Jaundubulti
One of the 4 stations that will sadly not be refurbished in 2015. Everything you see here is very Soviet.



























Melluži
A traditional station with lovely wooden buildings from 1925. In 2015 it will receive high platforms, modern toilets and other fancy things (fancy for the Latvian rail traveler, at least)



























Vaivari
A traditional station with wooden buildings from 1928 and a name that literally translates to "Can you?". It will also get an upgrade next year.

















The baggage shed is now used, among other things, as a place to keep the rubbish bins and station staff bicycles.


















It will be interesting to look at these in 2016 and see what's changed :cheers:


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## Sunfuns (Mar 26, 2012)

I'd like to see new and faster trains…

Is there any freight on Jurmala line?


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## Tin_Can (Jun 17, 2009)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> Vaivari
> A traditional station with wooden buildings from 1928 and a name that literally translates to "Can you?". It will also get an upgrade next year.


Aww,it's so cute!  

Btw,we have twin station called Vaivara in Eastern Estonia. Not as cute though - afaik,Vaivara station building is 50's Soviet type project.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Sunfuns said:


> Is there any freight on Jurmala line?


There is some but not much.



Tin_Can said:


> Aww,it's so cute!
> 
> Btw,we have twin station called Vaivara in Eastern Estonia. Not as cute though - afaik,Vaivara station building is 50's Soviet type project.


We have a station named "Skaista" which translates as "Beautiful"  But it's also a Soviet white brick building.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Latvian train ticket prices are the 9th cheapest in the world*
so claim goeuro.com

But, as always, it's a bit wrong. They claim that the ticket price per 100 km is 4,17 $ or 3,05 € while the actual ticket price per 100 km is 3,70 €. If the rest of their survey isn't wrong then we go one place down to become the 10th cheapest while Serbia takes the 9th place.

*Why is it that no foreigner ever knows anything correct about Latvia?*
The same survey claims that also that air travel is not available in Latvia although we have the largest airport in the Baltics and the largest airlines in the Baltics.

Bonus picture of a ČME3M hiding in the forest by user Алексеев Н. of parovoz.com


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## Sunfuns (Mar 26, 2012)

They probably meant internal air traffic


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Some pictures off the Internet of recent changes:*
Aizkraukle station
Before:









After:









Before:









After:









Muldakmens stop
Before:









After:


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## RipleyLV (Jun 4, 2008)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> Muldakmens stop
> Before:
> http://railwayz.info/photolines/images/100/1277147687181.jpg


What the **** is that? I can't take this look seriously, was that really a stop?


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

RipleyLV said:


> What the **** is that? I can't take this look seriously, was that really a stop?


Up until recently it didn't even have a proper name. Just "kilometer 845". (And that's kilometer 845 counting from Moscow, BTW)
And there are some even worse stops.
For example, Spīgana:









or Elste (that got closed around 2013). I especially like the white-on-white lettering :lol:









or Melturi. But now it at least has a shelter

















But these stops have much less trains per day than on the Krustpils line


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## RipleyLV (Jun 4, 2008)

My eyes hurt. :cripes: Would be a great zombie-apocalypse-type film location set though.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

^^
A few days ago I thought about buying an old Ikarus (strangely I couldn't find any on ss.lv) and providing "Jūrmala Apocalypse tours" around Ķemeri :lol:
I could add Skrunda secret military town and some of these stations 

BTW This - Milzkalne - is the nearest station for Jūrmala International airport :lol:


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Exercises _Premium Vitae 2014 _today in Daugavpils, imitating a train crash with 50+ injured and a chemical leak



































Pictures by NMPD

The worst train crash we've had was in Rīga in February 1976 when in a head-on collision 46 got killed and 61 injured. But the most recent bad crash was, again, in Rīga in February 2005 when in a head-on collision 4 were killed and 29 injured.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Two new expresses*

From 1st of October PV introduces additional express service in Ogre direction meant especially for commuters! There will be a morning express Ogre-Rīga and an evening express Rīga-Ogre-Lielvārde. The ticket will cost the same as on a regular commuter train. The trains will stop also in Jāņavārti, Šķirotava, Salaspils, Ikšķile (and Ķegums in the direction from Rīga).

The morning train Ogre-Rīga journey will take 38 minutes instead of 44 minutes of the regular commuter trains. But the ticket will cost the same (~1.10€ with monthly tickets, 1.70€ with single ticket). An interesting bit is that due to lack of available rolling stock in the mornings this will be a diesel train running on an electrified line. It means that the journey is slower than it might be. But it's still a good journey time and at least the seats are very comfortable unlike in the commuter electric trains.

The evening train Rīga-Ogre-Lielvārde in the Rīga-Ogre part will take 33 minutes instead of 44. This will be an electric train.

Currently there are also commuter expresses (of sorts):
6510 Tukums 2 - Rīga
6517 Rīga - Tukums 1
6714 Jelgava - Rīga
6211 Ogre - Rīga

A commuter express Sigulda-Rīga was tried out, but that wasn't feasible.
There were also plans of a commuter express Dobele-Jelgava-Rīga and back. I don't know if it will be implemented.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*More suburban services?*








One European Commission "Europe in my region" photo contest winners - Ieva Vīksne's picture

Pasažieru vilciens wants to make commuter trains more attractive by adding more services and introducing constant 15-20 minute intervals as well as introducing ticket price zones. The additional services would be achievable by reconfiguring 6-car electric trains into 4-car ones and reducing costs by replacing ticket offices with electronic ticket systems.

In the meantime they are also still trying to look for solutions on how to get new trains. Maybe the new government will finally decide to give them tax-payers money for it? We'll know in December.

These couple of months with Andris Lubāns - an LDz specialist - as the head of Pasažieru vilciens have been completely wonderful after the incompetent politicians which were fired. Sadly, after the elections which took place on Saturday we fear that the new government might once again put politicians in charge of Pasažieru vilciens... 


-------------------------------------
In other news:
*"UVZ Baltija" railcar factory has changed it's name to "Baltic Railway Holding"*

*"LDz has started painting their mainline locomotives in a new, brighter livery"*








Picture by Евгений М. of parovoz.com


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## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

I was looking at this video and wondered: was this line electrified in the past?


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

^^
Yes, In the 90ies. But it was never finished, so there were no electric trains, so it was dismantled. The last part was dismantled only last year...


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Some bad news:
*Mārupe council has denied both proposed Rail Baltica II rail line alternatives!*
The local council along with most of the inhabitants are NIMBYs that don't want a new railway that would create noise and bring no benefits (the line goes to Rīga, there is no station in Mārupe).

Judging by the description, the proposed routes were something like this:
http://balticmaps.eu/?lang=lv&draw_...ntery=6306161.500282347&zoom=4&layer=map&ls=o

Source in Latvian: http://www.aprinkis.lv/sabiedriba/p...ltica-iespejamos-trasejumus-novada-teritorija


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*On 28th of October in Rīga the Rail Baltica high speed rail joint venture company will be established!*

It will be owned in equal parts by the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian state and is necessary for the high speed rail project.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*A map of current route proposals for Rail Baltica 1435mm HSR.*
It will connect to the port on right and left bank of Daugava, the airport, city center and a future multi modal freight terminal near Salaspils.








Black/gray = current 1520mm line
Red = new 1435mm line
Blue = new 1520mm line


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

From Rail Journal:



> http://www.railjournal.com/index.ph...n-rail-baltica-joint-venture.html?channel=542
> 
> *Deal reached on Rail Baltica joint venture*
> Wednesday, October 29, 2014
> ...


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Good news!* :banana:
Unified train+bus tickets for Rīga-Aizkraukle! As well as better interoperability!








Now a single ticket will cost 20 cents less. I'm not sure if until now the bus had monthly tickets. If it didn't, then in a month you will be able to save 21 euros by buying this new ticket.

The buses will be rescheduled to arrive 10-15 minutes before a train departure and to leave 5-10 minutes after a train arrival. Currently there are cases when the bus leaves at the same minute as the train arrives which is crazy.


This is yet another good deed of the new PV board. I hope they won't be replaced again with some politicians...


*You can't have good news without bad news*

The ministry of transport and the port council have begun to worry about the 450 million euro electrification project. Recent geopolitical situation (Russia) has lead to less cargo than expected. And in any case Russia is beginning to send it's cargo through it's new ports new St. Petersburg to avoid the Baltic countries at all. So they are asking will the electrification project be feasible. The LDz representative concluded that we should pay close attention to the situation and maybe in the beginning should start with passenger route electrification.


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## Tin_Can (Jun 17, 2009)

Latvian capital Vilnius? :rofl: Latvia...Lithuania...What's the difference?


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## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

^^ hno: This news article is clearly about Lithuania not Latvia

Edit: Tin_Can was faster


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

When will the world finally learn the difference between Latvia and Lithuania?
:rofl:

Happens all the time!

(Although I wouldn't mind that we would get their new trains by mistake  )


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> When will the world finally learn the difference between Latvia and Lithuania?
> :rofl:
> 
> Happens all the time!
> ...


I alreay deleted article and moved to proper thread. In fact, article has been corrected by Rail Journal


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Cēsis update from yesterday*


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## Goy (Sep 27, 2014)

*The priority of Latvia gouvernment should be to build Baltica Rail with Lithuania and Estonia avoiding pass by Russian territory. It will make Latvia less dependent on Russia.*


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## Eiropro (May 18, 2013)

Goy said:


> *The priority of Latvia gouvernment should be to build Baltica Rail with Lithuania and Estonia avoiding pass by Russian territory. It will make Latvia less dependent on Russia.*


you keep posting same posts everywhere. you should be imaginative if you want better salary for that.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Pasažieru vilciens wants to cancel the 21:39 Sigulda-Rīga*









_A picture of the service in question, taken by me last year_

While trying to cut costs, PV has decided that the 21:39 Sigulda-Rīga service carries not enough passengers to continue. And while this is true, this is the latest service to Rīga that there is. If it gets canceled, the last train will leave Sigulda at 19:47 and the last bus at 20:51.

Sigulda has a popular concert hall and a cinema that people from Rīga tend to visit, but they can only do that by car because after the show there is no transport to the 50 km near capital. In the evenings there should be an hourly bus service.


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## Goy (Sep 27, 2014)

Eiropro said:


> you keep posting same posts everywhere. you should be imaginative if you want better salary for that.


*Please, read more about:*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_Baltica


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Eiropro said:


> you keep posting same posts everywhere. you should be imaginative if you want better salary for that.


I still don't get what's the point of all this troll action... In this case simply to start an argument and spread hatred between the forumers with different views on Russia?


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## Goy (Sep 27, 2014)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> I still don't get what's the point of all this troll action... In this case simply to start an argument and spread hatred between the forumers with different views on Russia?


*Don't be silly man! Baltica Rail is a project to link all Baltic countries to Germany. Tell the truth! :nuts:*










*The Trans-European railway Rail Baltica, linking Helsinki – Tallinn – Riga – Kaunas – Warsaw and continuing on to Berlin, is to be developed within the territories of the co-operating EU Member States. Rail Baltica will support the wider EU goals of parity of access to services and infrastructure of EU Member States and development of sustainable modes of transportation, improved balance and interoperability between different means of transportation and the establishment of links with the rest of the EU rail network.

Economic integration of Baltic States and Poland with Western Europe leads to growing trade and traffic. Well furnished and sustainable transportation links therefore promote economic growth and integration. While cross-sea ferry traffic in the Baltic Sea Region is growing fast, coast-parallel transport on sea or rail stagnate in contrast to rapidly growing road transport. Passenger railway services from Tallinn to Central/Western Europe ceased. Via Baltica, road and rail, is a priority in the TEN networks, with only road improvements progressing to date. Railway investments concentrate on East-West corridors and neglect the wanted integration within the widened EU.

On 20th-21st September 2001 the project „Rail Baltica” idea was included in the list of the priority projects of spatial planning of the Wismar Declaration signed by the Ministers of the Baltic Sea States responsible for spatial planning development, that was analyzed and defined in the report „Spatial development action programme for Baltic Sea region” (VASAB 2010+).

On 1st October 2003 the project Rail Baltica was included in the list of the priority projects according to the proposal submitted to the European Council by the European Commission.

On April 2003 the Rail Baltica International co-ordination group agreed on attracting the resources of two EU funds for further development of Rail Baltica:
- Interreg IIIB – for the field of regional development;
- The Cohesion fund – for the research of infrastructure development, using also Interreg IIIB project results in the analysis of the revenues and expenses.

On 22nd March 2005 European Commission has launched a tender for whole Cohesion fund Rail Baltica project pre-feasibility study. The terms of reference of pre-feasibility study will describe the key steps and analyses underpinning a feasibility assessment of the Rail Baltica corridor.
On November 2005 the company COWI is chosen to carry out Rail Baltica pre-feasibility study. Planned that pre-feasibility study will be finished till December 2006.

On 2nd June 2005 Interreg IIIB project Rail Baltica application was approved by the Interreg IIIB Steering Committee. There are 22 partners participating in Interreg IIIB project Rail Baltica, including ministries, regional development institutions, railway companies and NGO from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. The total Interreg IIIB project Rail Baltica budget is 1.15 MEUR.
The Interreg IIIB project Rail Baltica has two main goals:
- the definition of the most favourable route for the Rail Baltica railway link in terms of spatial planning and regional development,
- the raising of the awareness of the relevant actors (national and regional administrations and decision makers, industry and the public) in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) on the benefits of attractive railway connections.
As the result of Interreg IIIB project Rail Baltica will be common approach for railway development the BSR and the definition of the most favourable alignment of the Rail Baltica line in terms of spatial planning and regional development.
Interreg IIIB project Rail Baltica is planned to finish at the end of 2007.*


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## havelock (Jan 18, 2014)

^^ With all honesty, don't you think this is something every single member of this forum for whom the topic of railway transport in Baltics is interesting does know?


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

And construction is still slowly going on at Baltezers stop... How come it takes more than 6 months to reconstruct one 75 m long platform? Then again - it's a very unimportant stop.



























The other platform will probably be reconstructed next year.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

For your enjoyment: pictures of the Glūda-Reņģe railway
Taken by author Виктор of parovoz.com

The line was used by freight trains until Lithuania shamelessly dismantled their part Reņģe-Mažeiķi in around 2008-09. The last passenger train Rīga-Reņģe was canceled during the financial crisis in 2010. Now the 60 km long 100 kph line is used only as a place to keep spare freight cars.









A level crossing near the closed Penkule stop









Ālave river crossing









Bēne station









Bēne station


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Reņģe station









Reņģe station


















The border with Lithuania


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## Sunfuns (Mar 26, 2012)

It had no future as passenger line as it passes through no significant (>5,000 inhabitants) population centres, but could have been useful as a freight line to Lithuania...


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## zeķīte (Jul 23, 2011)

It was really good fright line to Mažeiķi, but Lithuanians wanted more fright trough their ports, so they just tore the line on their side down... They said it was for repairs, but till now they haven't done anything to rebuild the line.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

I read on ATD homepage that starting 1st of February there will be drastic changes in train services, called "the experiment", in order to cut costs and, in time, improve services elsewhere.

From Mondays to Thursdays:
all Valga direction trains will run only as far as Valmiera with the rest (47 km) being by bus;
all Zilupe direction trains will run only as far as Rēzekne with the rest (55 km) being by bus;
Madona train will run only as far as Pļaviņas with the rest (45 km) being by bus.

The last Sigulda-Rīga train will be replaced with a bus service because the train will be left in Sigulda for the night and run an morning express service Sigulda-Rīga.

On weekdays the first Rīga-Saulkrasti, Rīga-Lielvārde, Rīga-Jelgava and the last Saulkrasti-Rīga, Lielvārde-Rīga, Jelgava-Rīga trains will be canceled.

The weekends-only Rīga-Daugavpils-Rīga train will run also on Fridays.

Source: http://www.atd.lv/tools/download.php...i_22122014.pdf

So this is how our domestic passenger rail situation will look like


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## Maadeuurija (Nov 14, 2010)

And there goes the neighborhood... hno:

we can only hope that after "the experiment" the services will be restored and not canceled for ever because fewer people use the lines because buses....


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## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

Soo...Tartu-Riga train connection is practically lost as well. 

What the heck, Latvia?


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Rebasepoiss said:


> What the heck, Latvia?







That money for the big political ads on abandoned factory buildings about "the Latvian success story" has to come from somewhere


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> *Pasažieru vilciens wants to cancel the 21:39 Sigulda-Rīga*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


One would think they would extend bus service if they cut rail service. At least do a trail run for a few months to see if its worth it.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Nexis said:


> One would think they would extend bus service if they cut rail service. At least do a trail run for a few months to see if its worth it.


Yes, that's exactly what they will be doing, as I found out more recently (see the first post I posted today). From 1st of February till the 30th of May the train will be replaced by a bus. But the train that used to run the service will stay the night at the station and will operate an additional morning service - an express for the commuters.

For the people of Sigulda a bus is not an inconvenience because the railway and bus station is combined into the same building. But I'm not sure if and how the bus will serve the other train stops. That train service calls at 3 stations which require a major detour by road (one of those detours isn't paved) and 2 stations which have no road access at all - it's more than a kilometer on forest paths.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

And it's a similar access problem with the whole routes which will be replaced by bus. How early will the bus leave if the Zilupe-Rīga train currently leaves at 3:30 AM and that part is 55 km by rail but a whopping 97 km by bus!


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Although the far countryside will receive a worse train service, we must remember that Sigulda will have an additional morning express. And now *PV finally wants to restart a daily Rīga-Dobele-Rīga service!!!*

Currently PV is discussing with ATD about the necessity of such a train (should they do it and if - when).

This train would not only be good for the people of Dobele, who currently use tiny minibuses, but also for Jelgavians (dat name) because it would serve as a morning express to Rīga and an evening express from Rīga.

If they introduce it, the timetable for the Rīga-Dobele service will be exactly the same as for the Rīga-Liepāja train but the Dobele-Rīga (Mon-Fri) service will be as follows:
Dobele 6.56
Jelgava 7.23
Olaine 7.43
Rīga 8.03

Currently Dobele sees just two passenger trains per week

source http://financenet.tvnet.lv/zinas/543158-diskute_par_vilciena_reisa_rigadobele_nepieciesamibu


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## Maadeuurija (Nov 14, 2010)

Good to hear... but it's still not right to cut some services to restart another.... hno:


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Maadeuurija said:


> but it's still not right to cut some services to restart another.... hno:


True... it seems that they're trying to optimize the passenger railways by reducing the costly and empty services in the far countryside and improving the commuter services. At least it's not like the late 90ies when optimization meant closing and reducing everything everywhere - even on commuter routes. IMO the infrastructure costs are quite unfair - they're very high and don't count how many people are on-board the train. So a full to the brim 7-car commuter DMU has the same costs as an almost empty single car DMU in the countryside. And that means that the trains in the countryside are very, very, very inviable.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*LDz's mainline diesel locomotive project*










Here's all what's left of LDz's old diesel locomotive. This undercarriage will be renewed and then the new diesel locomotive will be built around it.

There will be a total of 14 twin section locomotives, as mentioned previously.

Picture from 16th December. From balticrailpics.net


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## Maadeuurija (Nov 14, 2010)

Is it cheaper than buying a new locomotive?


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## KingNick (Sep 23, 2010)

There is absolutely no reason not to recycle the old underframes. Just like bogies these parts are basically indestructible.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

^^
And, as somebody told me, it is easier to put them into service because they don't need to get a new license as new locomotive types need because this is just a modernized version of the old locomotive. Although basically nothing is left.


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## Hybrid 87 (Aug 3, 2004)

Even if Latvia will not get Stadler Flirt in real life, I created it for the game Train Fever










If you have the game you can download the mod here: http://www.train-fever.net/filebase/index.php/Entry/749-Stadler-Flirt-LDz-Lettland/


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## MajKeR_ (Feb 5, 2009)

Perhaps only Flirt 3 might be available now


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*So - the big changes have finally been announced officially by Pasažieru vilciens.*

They've altered it a bit though - trains to Zilupe will remain

A short review of the now official changes:
*Negative changes:*

Valmiera - Valga - Valmiera will have trains only on weekends.
On weekdays it will be a bus service. Journey times 15-20 minutes longer and won't serve Brenguļi station.

Pļaviņas - Madona will have a train only on Fridays and Sundays.
Madona - Pļaviņas will have a train only on Saturdays and Mondays.
On other days it will be a bus service. Journey time increased by about 30 minutes and won't serve Spīgana stop. And it will be a 5 km walk from the train stop Mārciena to the bus stop (Sauleskalns).

The last train Saulkrasti-Rīga, Sigulda-Rīga, Lielvārde-Rīga and Jelgava-Rīga cancelled. As well as the first train Rīga-Saulkrasti, Rīga-Jelgava, Rīga-Lielvārde.


*Positive changes:*

Additional morning express Sigulda-Rīga;

Additional Rīga-Daugavpils-Rīga service on Fridays;

Train 806 Rīga-Krustpils journey time reduced by 5 minutes;

Train 809 and 817 Daugavpils-Rīga journey time reduced by 2 minutes;

Train 701 Rēzekne-Rīga (express "Rēzekne") journey time reduced by 5 minutes;

Train 807 Zilupe-Rīga journey time reduced by 14 minutes;

Sundays-only Līvāni-Rīga service's journey time reduced by 10 minutes;


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

_Picture Friday_
with a few nice pictures from parovoz.com


Rīga's Railway bridge viewed from the Spīķeri promenade


End of the line -- Skulte


Staff DMU in Gulbene


Tractor at Rīga port


Names of photo authors can be viewed by clicking on the pictures









Newest map of Rail Baltica II preferred routes


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## Hybrid 87 (Aug 3, 2004)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> *Negative changes:*
> 
> Valmiera - Valga - Valmiera will have trains only on weekends.
> On weekdays it will be a bus service. Journey times 15-20 minutes longer and won't serve Brenguļi station.


In other words the possibility of taking the train from Riga to Tallinn (with a transfer at Valga) is now canceled (at least during weekdays) :bash:


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Electrification EIA completed*










VPVB has completed the environmental impact assessment procedure for Latvian Railway electrification scheme and has concluded that of the alternatives 1, 2 and 2A only the realization of 2A can be allowed as there wasn't sufficient information about the impact of alternatives 1 and 2.

Alternative 2A is the electrification at 2x25kV instead of 1x25kV and requires the lowest amount of new substations (10 instead of 11 or 17 of the other alternatives).

The EIA didn't include the electrification of lines _border w/ Russia-Zilupe-Rēzekne_, _Rēzekne-Daugavpils_,_Daugavpils-Indra-border w/ Belarus_ because LDz has decided that these parts won't be electrified (for now, at least).

The current start and end dates for the project are 2016 and 2022


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

And it turns out that I was a bit wrong about trains on part Valmiera-Valga. There will still be one train per day. But not the one which makes transfer to Valga-Tallinn train possible. So you will have to change from train to bus to train


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## MarcVD (Dec 1, 2008)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> There will still be one train per day. But not the one which makes transfer to Valga-Tallinn train possible.


You mean, the train from Riga will arrive in Valga too late to make the 
connection with the train to Tallinn ? In that case, it must still be possible to
do it but overnighting in Valga becomes necessary... Any good hotels there,
anything to do in the city ?

As far as I know, it's also the only way to travel by rail between Vilnius and
Riga, overnighting in Daugavpils...


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

^^
You can make it without staying the night, but it's not so handy anymore



Felin said:


> The connections from Tallinn/Tartu to Riga will really be worse:
> Arrivals at Valga from Tallinn: 11:31, 16:23, 18:56
> Departures from Valga to Riga: 4:55, 11:24, 17:03
> So, the connection 16:23 -> 17:03 will be slightly better with less waiting time. But the connection around 11:30 will not be possible anymore. :-(
> ...


Only the 4:55 service is a train. The 11:24 and 17:03 are buses.

In Valka/Valga there is stuff to see. Firstly the fact that the town is split up into two countries. Secondly, there is such a thing in Valga as a "Military theme park" :lol: http://www.visitestonia.com/en/valga-military-theme-park http://visit.valka.lv/en/kat/redzet-un-piedalities/apskates-vietas-valka/


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## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> VPVB has completed the environmental impact assessment procedure for Latvian Railway electrification scheme and has concluded that of the alternatives 1, 2 and 2A only the realization of 2A can be allowed as there wasn't sufficient information about the impact of alternatives 1 and 2.
> 
> Alternative 2A is the electrification at 2x25kV instead of 1x25kV and requires the lowest amount of new substations (10 instead of 11 or 17 of the other alternatives).
> 
> ...


That's really impressive. How many kilometres is it and how much will it cost?


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Rebasepoiss said:


> That's really impressive. How many kilometres is it and how much will it cost?


It will be 1100 km including the reconstruction of existing electrification. If number of tracks is taken into account, then the total length of electrification will be 1500 km of which 530 km will be existing electrification reconstructed and converted to AC.

The cost is still unclear, but it should be around 550 million € with 85% covered by EU.

The Lithuanians want to do something similar - to electrify Minsk-Vilnius-Šauliai-Klaipēda. But theirs will be simpler and cheaper because they already have AC electrification.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

The more smarter people still can't understand the populistic minister of Traffic who even today still promises new electric trains in 2016 and that this will be achieved without any taxpayers money. It's simply impossible.

1) Pasažieru vilciens doesn't have money for new trains and the ministry (as the minister has made clear) won't give any.
2) Pasažieru vilciens doesn't know even what kind of trains they need to buy - AC or DC - because the electrification plan is still in the making and theoretically can still be stopped. In any case it wouldn't be wise to buy DC trains for 2016 if in 2017(?) we will start switching to AC.
3) It's almost impossible to get passengers on new trains in 2016. If they would have the money, which they don't, they would have to announce the tender. Then they would have to listen to a couple of protests from trainmakers. Then they would award one with the contract for delivery. But then they will have to listen to a couple more protests from other trainmakers. And only then, when the contract eventually gets signed, it's 12-18 months until first delivery. And then it's certification and test runs before the train actually carries passengers.

To make the post less dry I will add a picture of one of the old DMUs ondergoing modernization in RVR factory








Author and original link


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## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

^^ For comparison's sake, it took 4 years after the tender was announced, when the first new EMU started service in Estonia....

18 June 2009 - the tender was announced
1 July 2013 - the first EMU entered service

Anything below 2 years from start to finish is hard to imagine (for a public company).


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Today Skrīveri-Krustpils double track project was completed!*










The largest railway construction project since independence has finally been completed and opened! In this project ~55 kilometers of railway were doubled to relieve a bottleneck and increase maximum throughput from 25 million tons of freight to around 50. 7 stations and stops were reconstructed with new platforms. Maximum speeds were raised to 90 for freight and 120 kph for passenger trains. Now Rīga-Krustpils is fully double track 

Video about the project:


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

The new ČME3M*E* locomotives!

Rebuilt from old ČME3 locomotives. Same as ČME3M but less powerful.



















And all that's left from 2M62U locomotive. Now the new locomotive will be built around it.










Picture author: ER2-130709(01)


*In the news:*

From 2nd of February Rīga - Minsk international train runs only every other day instead of daily.

From end of May the service Vilnius - St. Petersburg will be canceled and with that also service between Daugavpils and Vilnius.

It's not yet know what will happen to Rīga - St. Petersburg daily international train.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Bolderāja station expansion

Author: Алексеев Н.









Bolderāja II station construction










Author: Виктор


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Ministry of Traffic has yet again decided to bring up the question of small station closure...*

While I don't know much about the exact stops, Milzkalne (30 passengers/day) and Smārde (140 passengers/day) are in the list. Locals are unhappy. 140 people is quite a lot in Latvia

http://www.ntz.lv/novados/engures/s...egt-smardes-un-milzkalnes-dzelzcela-stacijas/



Meanwhile, Pasažieru vilciens is giving out free Milka chocolates to passengers.


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## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

^^ Why Milka? Because nobody would consider a Laima chocolate as a present? 


j/k


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

^^


Parovoz said:


> Same here in Estonia It looks like a big advertising campaign in Baltic states...




Though I'm not a big fan of Laima chocolate (or any of their products for that matter) - it seems that they put big money into PR but not into actual products...


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## Sunfuns (Mar 26, 2012)

Some of their products have become inedible…


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

Yes! I don't buy Laima zephyrs anymore. There are better ones that are also made locally. But their PR is so weak that I can't even remember their brand name 


So to not make anyone mad with our candy talk - a picture of the new Bolderāja II - Krievu sala railway, U/C









Photo by Виктор from parovoz.com


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

A question:

Will a nuclear waste storage facility just 500 m from the Rail Baltica railway be a problem? More specifically - the impact on the waste containers from vibration caused by the trains









radioaktīvo atkritumu glabātuve = nuclear waste storage


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## havelock (Jan 18, 2014)

*BriedisUnIzlietne*, where did you get Rail Baltica planning map of such a detail? Do you have more of them?


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## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

^^ Here you go 


ulzha said:


> Public hearing over the environmental impact assessment of the Latvian portion is underway, till March 15.
> http://www.sam.gov.lv/?cat=8&art_id=4809 -> http://railbaltica.info/informacija/ietekmes-uz-vidi-novertejums/
> Maps at the bottom of the latter.


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## da_scotty (Nov 4, 2008)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> A question:
> 
> Will a nuclear waste storage facility just 500 m from the Rail Baltica railway be a problem? More specifically - the impact on the waste containers from vibration caused by the trains
> 
> ...


Probably not, anyway they can reduce vibrations by altering the trackbed.

The tramline through the campus at my university has a special trackbed to reduce vibrations which can alter the ultra-sensitive appertii at the faculty of aplied science and nanobiology (so they can reduce vibrations to a very low minimum if needed). Also radioactive material isn't "moved" by vibrations. It would be the same if they stored Oil-drums, I don't see major troubles.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

da_scotty said:


> Probably not, anyway they can reduce vibrations by altering the trackbed.
> 
> The tramline through the campus at my university has a special trackbed to reduce vibrations which can alter the ultra-sensitive appertii at the faculty of aplied science and nanobiology (so they can reduce vibrations to a very low minimum if needed).


Wow, it's great that they've planned it so thoroughly!  When they recently reconstructed a tram line in Rīga, they even couldn't get the measurements right - the trams couldn't get past a catenary pole at the end loop because it was built too close to the tracks :bash: 



> Also radioactive material isn't "moved" by vibrations. It would be the same if they stored Oil-drums, I don't see major troubles.


The material wouldn't be moved, but concrete, that is probably the walls of the storage to block radiation, can crack under vibrations.


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## da_scotty (Nov 4, 2008)

^^
Then you would need a bloody heavy train if you want to create that magnitude of vibrations which can crack radio-active-proof walls.

If they would crack that easily I would be worried anyways!


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

^^
Well, okay - I forgot that Rail Baltica probably won't even have the 5500 ton trains that we are used to 

I just hope that they've kept the condition of those walls good. Unlike in the nearby Salaspils reactor where they have a radioactive water leak and no money to fix it


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*The NIMBYs of Mārupe have emerged*

The inhabitants of Mārupe who are quite wealthy have started to fight the Rail Baltica project. They have influenced media into posting articles full of lies and only their point of view, spreading hatred onto the masses hno:

The part of Mārupe where the railway will go through is very new - only a couple of houses have been built so far. It used to be a swamp some 15 years ago, it is very close to the International airport Rīga and Rīga ring road A5. But somehow they think that living in the village is nice and a railway will ruin it.

They are spreading lies:

That there will be over 70 daily freight trains. Which is totally false - only a couple of freight trains to deliver fuel and freight to the airport.

That the trains will be traveling at 200 kph and making noise by breaking. Again - false. They won't be that fast so near the station and breaking won't create noise.

That the local council will stop resurfacing roads and that the local kids will be killed icard: I won't even try to explain why it'a load of bulls*it

And basically they have proposed an alternative route (red) instead of the currently planned one (blue) icard:











Meanwhile at the other end of the country: Residents of Salacgrīva want to move the new railway line closer to their town and have a station 
https://www.facebook.com/stacijasalacgriva

And I wouln't be against it - every year Salacgrīva has a large festival - Positivus - which has more people than the entire population of Parnu (where the new railway will have a station). Getting people to Positivus has proven to be a problem since the road is only single carriageway and widening is not reasonable for the most part. Massive traffic jams occur.


In other news - Rail Baltica I (old line upgrade) has made a Valga-Rīga express service possible. Journey times are to be reduced by 40(!) minutes, starting late March.


----------



## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

Looking at that schedule it looks like you're stuck riding the old ER2 trains until 2025? Or is there a plan to buy dual-voltage trains?


----------



## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

^^
Thankfully, not that long, but still quite some time..

For the past half year PV, LDz and the government have been thinking on what to do with the financing. It's really hard for me to understand this bureaucracy, but apparently the state will change the infrastructure financing model by paying for infrastructure use directly from the ministry and not through PV. Otherwise due to some EU regulations the PV loan for new train purchase might count as an increase of state debt which we can't do.

On Monday PV released their schedule:
2017 – the new financing model
2018 – depot reconstruction
2019 – 6 new EMUs
2020 – 12 new EMUs
2021 – 14 new EMUs

I guess this means that all have to be dual mode

http://leta.lv/home/important/4459C564-A5BE-4D59-9FC6-2C618C8C0F58/


----------



## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

MarcVD said:


> Can some one who knows publish a list of the existing international trains to and from the baltics ? To Poland, Minsk, Moscow, St Pet, Others ?
> 
> Envoyé de mon GT-I9505 en utilisant Tapatalk


Tallinn – St. Petersburg – Moscow
night train, daily

Rīga – Novosokol – St. Petersburg
night train, daily

Rīga – Novosokol – Moscow
night train, daily

Rīga – Minsk
night train, every 2 days

Vilnius – Minsk
day train, 3 trains per day

Kaliningrad – Vilnius – Minsk – Moscow
night train, 2 trains per day

Kaunas – Bialystok (PL)
day train, 2 trains per day, only on weekends

I think that a train Vilnius – Grodno (BY) was introduced this or last summer, but I can't find it in a timetable anymore. Maybe someone knows what happened?

Have I left out any services? I don't think so.

Between Lithuania and Latvia there are absolutely no trains.
Between Latvia and Estonia there theoretically is a possibility to change trains in Valga, but nowadays a real connection is not scheduled anymore.u


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## MarcVD (Dec 1, 2008)

Ok thank you very much !

Envoyé de mon GT-I9505 en utilisant Tapatalk


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## eu01 (Oct 14, 2005)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> I think that a train Vilnius – Grodno (BY) was introduced this or last summer, but I can't find it in a timetable anymore. Maybe someone knows what happened?


Are you sure it existed? I find it almost impossible, as the former Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway (once main international line) has been dismantled on the Lithuanian side, from the Belarus border till Marcinkonys. Taking into account the non-EU status of Belarus this might be understandable, however in other geopolitical realities this stretch of the line could have become a logical route option for Rail Baltica: Warsaw -Bialystok -Grodno -Vilnius -Riga -Tallinn.


----------



## aspaspasp (Aug 7, 2014)

What is the maximum speed currently achieved on a regular passenger line in Latvia?


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

eu01 said:


> Are you sure it existed?


Yes, here's a picture. From the comments now I read that it I guess was only experimental, because operated only for one month – July/August 2015. They would have probably continued the service if it was popular, but apparently it was too expensive or simply not enough people wanted it.

The route was through Lida rather than Varena and operated by Belorussian railways.









(source)



> I find it almost impossible, as the former Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway (once main international line) has been dismantled on the Lithuanian side, from the Belarus border till Marcinkonys.


Sad 
Since 2015 the once main line's part Daugavpils – Lithuanian border doesn't have any train service, but is still open









(source)


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

aspaspasp said:


> What is the maximum speed currently achieved on a regular passenger line in Latvia?


I might be wrong, but I think it's around 90 km/h, because when traveling next to roads cars are slightly faster. In some occasions trains reach ~115 km/h with the maximum line speed in Latvia being 120.

I hope that with new trains they could achieve full 120 more often.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*Rīga Central station reconstruction*

EDzL (SIA Eiropas Dzelzceļa Līnijas / European Rail Lines Ltd.) have unveiled the submitted proposals for Rīga Central station reconstruction and the new railway bridge for Rail Baltica. There is a great variety of proposals and the best one will be chosen in a couple of weeks.

The actual project would only include the infrastructure necessary for the railway so the surrounding area and street reconstructions should be done by the municipality which is a big worry since they probably don't want to do that.









SMXL2022









8A7F5R2J









R2I0G1A6









ARST2919

Source and all proposals here: http://edzl.lv/lv/aktualitates/metu-konkurss
CRHR2016 is a trolling proposal


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

wow, it's been a year since something's been posted here... guess I'll have to make a short summary. *choo choo* Let's get to it!

*Electrification project*








http://parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_view.php?ID=602391&LNG=EN#picture
Financial concerns have impacted the project. Since there is not that much money available and no one knows if there will be money for future phases, the initial project that's to be completed by 2023 will be the 25kV AC electrification of Rīga–Krustpils–Daugavpils and Krustpils–Rēzekne.

The costs are expected to be €441m with €347m of that being European co-financing and the rest being paid by Latvian Railways itself, not the state.

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/...backs-electrification-financing-proposal.html

*New EMU project*








http://parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_view.php?ID=604459&LNG=EN#picture
Unsurprisingly, the project is still taking time. Right now PV has received technical proposals from Talgo, Stadler, CAF and Škoda. A contract for the delivery of 32 commuter EMUs will hopefully be signed in 2018.

These trains would be single-voltage DC with the possibility of future conversion to AC when electrification gets converted. This means that Rīga station will also be split with certain platforms for 1520mm DC-only commuter trains, some for 1520mm AC-only Aizkraukle trains and some for 1435mm AC-only airport and Rail Baltica trains.

Afterwards PV hopes to acquire long-distance EMUs for the future electrification to Daugavpils and Rēzekne, but God knows how much time will that take :lol:

http://www.db.lv/ekonomika/transpor...uma-pretendentu-tehniskos-piedavajumus-466754

http://www.delfi.lv/bizness/transpo...varetu-braukt-divstavu-vilcieni.d?id=48952761

*Reņģe line reopening*








http://parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_view.php?ID=599756&LNG=EN#picture
Europe has pronounced Lithuania guilty in demolishing their part of the cross-border line ten years ago in order to limit competition. Now they are forced to pay a large fine AND reopen the railway line. Lithuanian railways will fight this decision, but have already started to work on the design for the reopening of the line. The Latvian part of the line is in working order, but sees no train service. It is used only to store unnecessary freight wagons.

*Vilnius–Daugavpils service*
Lithuanian railways are working on reestablishing passenger service from Vilnius to Daugavpils by extending certain services beyond Turmantas on the currently disused railway section. There are four daily trains to Turmantas, but probably only certain weekend trains will be extended. The service should commence in the coming weeks or months.

*Sarkandaugava–Ziemeļblāzma reconstruction*
Latvian railways is to reconstruct the Sarkandaugava–Ziemeļblāzma part of Skulte railway in Rīga with new tracks, signalling and safer crossings. The biggest change will be the removal of Mīlgrāvis bridge bottleneck – the 2km of single track over Mīlgrāvis canal. This will now only allow more freight to the port, but also a more frequent, regular commuter train service in Skulte direction. Project is to be completed by 2023.

*Daugavpils railway improvement*








http://parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_view.php?ID=598966&LNG=EN#picture
Latvian railways is to improve efficiency of operations and reduce the number of freight trains in the core of Daugavpils. The sorting station is to be expanded with a new arrival yard and the abandoned part of Daugavpils ring railway will be reopened. New connections with the ring railway will finally allow trains to go from Daugavpils–Šķirotava to Krustpils, avoiding the city center.

*Railway museum reconstruction and expansion*
Latvian railways is looking to improve the railway museum to celebrate 100 years of Latvian independence. Currently, experts are evaluating the various proposals.


*Gulbene line renovation*








http://parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_view.php?ID=590995&LNG=EN#picture
Latvian railways is renovating the line from Pļaviņas to Gulbene. This was the last railway in the country with wooden sleepers and short rails. No more of that nostalgic experience for travellers.


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## D K (May 8, 2009)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> Tallinn – St. Petersburg – Moscow
> night train, daily
> 
> Rīga – Novosokol – St. Petersburg
> ...


Hello,
Any explanation to the absence of a trainline between Riga and Tallinn ? I wanted to try such a line very recently but i ended up taking the bus...


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

^^
Basically, lack of political will, problems with interoperability/lack of available rolling stock as well as the pure geographical fact that the railway line is 410 km long while the road is just 290km. There used to be a direct railway line, but it wasn't built to mainline standard so wasn't any good for fast intercity trains.

Hopefully, this will soon be a thing of the past, since the new Rail Baltica 240km/h railway line from Rīga to Tallinn and Kaunas should be finished by 2025


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

*(pre-)April update!*

*The first Rail Baltica construction design contract










*On 20th of March, the first construction design contract in the Baltics was signed in Rīga. This contract is for the design of the new Rīga Airport railway station and 4,4km of new double-track electrified 1435mm gauge railway to Imanta railway station – a small part of the total RailBaltica project.

The station and railway in Rīga International Airport will be located on a viaduct and will join the new airport entrance terminal. The platforms will be 400m long to allow international trains as well as shuttle trains to Rīga City Center.

http://edzl.lv/en/news/the-first-ra...pervision-contract-signed-in-the-baltics.html

*Vilnius–Daugavpils passenger train*

So, since early January Lithuanian Railways now operate a weekend-only passenger train service from Vilnius to Daugavpils, the second largest city of Latvia. This trains operates twice per day only on the weekends. There is no scheduled connection with any of the Pasažieru vilciens services to Rīga, but for tourists its fairly good.
http://nra.lv/latvija/regionos/234118-no-sodienas-sak-kurset-vilciens-daugavpils-vilna.htm


*Growth for Pasažieru vilciens*

It seems that PV has finally stabilized and has seen the second year of growing passenger numbers. This is despite the old fleet of trains and outdated station infrastructure, courtesy of Latvian Railways. Even more – intercity and regional buses are seeing a drop in passengers, not growth.

Last year 17 333 380 passengers used Pasažieru vilciens, a 1,5%.

Hopefully, new trains will finally be ordered sometime this spring.


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## D K (May 8, 2009)

BriedisUnIzlietne said:


> ^^
> Basically, lack of political will, problems with interoperability/lack of available rolling stock as well as the pure geographical fact that the railway line is 410 km long while the road is just 290km. There used to be a direct railway line, but it wasn't built to mainline standard so wasn't any good for fast intercity trains.
> 
> Hopefully, this will soon be a thing of the past, since the new Rail Baltica 240km/h railway line from Rīga to Tallinn and Kaunas should be finished by 2025


Thanks for the reply.
Rail Baltica will not connect with each other all the capital cities but at least it will be a good move forward!


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## k_raivis (Oct 14, 2015)

D K said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> Rail Baltica will not connect with each other all the capital cities but at least it will be a good move forward!


Yes it will. A link from Kaunas to Vilnius will be built as a part of Rail Baltica. 
Yes, Vilnius won't get a Rail Baltica station but you'll be able to reach Vilnius pretty easy by transfer in Kaunas.


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## BHT (Jan 27, 2017)

Finally, 32 new EMUs for PV with capacity of 450 pax. will be supplied by Talgo, delivery is scheduled between 2020 and 2023:



Raptorzzs said:


> Avots


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## da_scotty (Nov 4, 2008)

They look like CAF Civity's?


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

I guess this is the reason why RvR had to bankrupt. Instead of buying their own, Latvians are forced to import.


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## UztoUS (Nov 13, 2018)

any updates on the airport line, like expected date of completion?
is it a subway system or on land system?


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

UztoUS said:


> any updates on the airport line, like expected date of completion?
> is it a subway system or on land system?


Since the airport line is a part of Rail Baltica and needs the entire Riga section completed in order to function, I guess 2025, just like the rest of Rail Baltica.

The technical design for the first part of the line (Airport–Imanta) was signed in March. (link) You can see a map of the part in the Latvian version of the article here

In the end of October, three architectural design proposals for the airport station were presented: "Compactness and sunlight", "Close connection to nature" and "Openness, transparency and light". (link, in Latvian)


The airport line will be a conventional railway line (with both shuttle trains to the airport and Rail Baltica high-speed trains). At the airport and in Rīga city center the line will be elevated. The rest of it will be on ground level except for a tunnel section in Torņakalns.


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## BriedisUnIzlietne (Dec 16, 2012)

-III- said:


> I guess this is the reason why RvR had to bankrupt. Instead of buying their own, Latvians are forced to import.



While unfortunate, it would have taken a miracle for RVR to survive as a train manufacturer. All of their products were outdated and no one would buy them. During the 90s nobody in the post-Soviet area was buying new trains. And then: the Baltics want modern trains which RVR cannot provide, Russia can meet its demand by itself (by producing basically the same old ER2 trains we used to make) and Ukraine, Belarus isn't really buying new trains. So where would RVR sell trains and what money would they have invested into developing new and modern trains?


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

> During the 90s nobody in the post-Soviet area was buying new trains.


Wrong. 










ER35 train produced for Yugoslav railways (ŽTP Beograd). Three trainsets.

RvR produced trains for Belarus, Ukraine and some other countries. The last ER9 was made in 2012 or 2014. Belarus bought completely DMU's. 

RvR could survive but there was no political interest for such thing. Even now you have problems to shut it down in bankruptcy procedure.


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

Post soviet production of ER9T

ЭР9Т-732 1994 Odessa Railway	Odessa-Zastava	Именной "Отрада"
ЭР9Т-725 03.1994 Odessa Railway	Odessa-Zastava	Именной "Одесса"
ЭР9Т-726 06.1994 Gorky Railway	Kirov (MVPS)	
ЭР9Т-727 07.1994 South-Eastern railway	Otrozhka (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-729	62-289 08.1994 Kazakhstan Temir Zholy	Suburban Transport	Ранее "Окжетпес" до ЭД9МК-0076
ЭР9Т-728 08.1994 Odessa Railway	Odessa-Zastava	"Рось"
ЭР9Т-730 10.1994 Odessa Railway	Odessa-Zastava	Именной "Чайка"
ЭР9Т-731 11.1994 South-Western Railway	Chernigov	
ЭР9Т-733 12.1994 Odessa Railway	Odessa-Zastava	Именной "Бриз"
ЭР9Т-734 02.1995 East Siberian Railway	Irkutsk-Sort. (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-735 04.1995 East Siberian Railway	Vihorevka (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-736 05.1995 East Siberian Railway	Irkutsk-Sort. (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-737 07.1995 Belarusian Railway	Minsk-Severniy	
ЭР9Т-738 08.1995 South-Eastern railway	Otrozhka (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-739 10.1995 East Siberian Railway	Irkutsk-Sort. (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-740 11.1995 East Siberian Railway	Irkutsk-Sort. (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-741 12.1995 East Siberian Railway	Irkutsk-Sort. (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-744 1996 East Siberian Railway	Irkutsk-Sort. (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-742 02.1996 East Siberian Railway	Irkutsk-Sort. (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-743 02.1996 Moscow Railway	Smolensk-I (EMU)	
ЭР9Т-745 06.1996 Gorky Railway	Kirov (MVPS)	
ЭР9ТМ-801	62-2011 10.1996 Belarusian Railway	Minsk-Severniy	Имени Евгения Володько
ЭР9Т-746 09.2001 L'viv Railway	Zdolbunov / EMU, DMU	
ЭР9Т-747 10.2003 L'viv Railway	Zdolbunov / EMU, DMU	КР Киевский ЭВРЗ


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

Post soviet production of DR1A

ДР1А-306 1992 Belarusian Railway	Brest	
ДР1А-312 1992 Private carieers	A/S GoRail	
ДР1А-308 1992	2012	Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	
ДР1А-307 1992	11.2012	Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	служебный
ДР1А-310 1992	11.2012	Kuybyshev railway	Samara rail museum	Вагон 310-3
ДР1А-309 10.1992 Belarusian Railway	Brest	
ДР1А-311 11.1992 Private carieers	AS "PV"	
ДР1А-314 1993 Belarusian Railway	Baranovichi	
ДР1А-313 1993 Belarusian Railway	Brest	
ДР1А-315 1993 Belarusian Railway	Gomel	
ДР1А-318 1993 Lithuanian Railway	Vilnius	
ДР1А-317 1993	2011	Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	
ДР1А-316 1993	11.2012	Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	
ДР1А-319 1994 Belarusian Railway	Baranovichi	
ДР1А-321 1994 Belarusian Railway	Baranovichi	
ДР1А-320 1994 Belarusian Railway	Brest	
ДР1А-323 1	1994 Belarusian Railway	Gomel	
ДР1А-322 1994	2016	Kaliningrad railway	Museum KZD	Вагон 3
ДР1А-324 11.1994 L'viv Railway	Zdolbunov / EMU, DMU	
ДР1А-326 1995 Belarusian Railway	Baranovichi	
ДР1А-325 1995 Belarusian Railway	Brest	
ДР1А-450 1995 Lithuanian Railway	Vilnius	
ДР1А-451 1995 Lithuanian Railway	Vilnius	
ДР1А-327 07.1995 Northern railway	Yaroslavl-Gl.	
ДР1А-328 12.1995 Lithuanian Railway	Vilnius	
ДР1А-329 04.1996 L'viv Railway	Ternopol / DMUs	
ДР1А-330 07.1996 L'viv Railway	Ternopol / DMUs	
ДР1А-331 11.1996 L'viv Railway	Ternopol / DMUs	
ДР1А-333 1998 Latvian Railways	RVR	
ДР1А-332 1998 Odessa Railway	Nikolaev АР


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

Post soviet production of ER2T

ЭР2-72	62-297	1992 Sverdlovsk railway	Service cars	Музей
ЭР2М-7226	62-297	1992 Sverdlovsk railway	Sverdlosk-Pas	Служебный
ЭР2Т-7212	62-297	01.1992 Moscow Railway	Lobnya (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7213	62-297	01.1992 Moscow Railway	Lobnya (EMU)	ЭР2Р-706409
ЭР2Т-7214	62-297	01.1992 Moscow Railway	Lobnya (EMU)	Вагоны 02, 03
ЭР2Т-7215	62-297	01.1992 Moscow Railway	Lobnya (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7216	62-297	03.1992 Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7218	62-297	03.1992 Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7219	62-297	03.1992 Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7217	62-297	03.1992 Moscow Railway	Lobnya (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7220	62-297	04.1992 Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7221	62-297	04.1992 Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	КР Московский ЛРЗ
ЭР2Т-7222	62-297	05.1992 Near-Dnipro Railway	Dnepr. (EMUs)	
ЭР2Т-7224	62-297	06.1992 Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7225	62-297	06.1992 Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7223	62-297	06.1992 Near-Dnipro Railway	Zaporizhzhya (EMUs)	Січеслав
ЭР2Т-7226	62-297	07.1992 Sverdlovsk railway	Perm`-2	Головной вагон в составе ЭД4М-0012
ЭР2Т-7230	62-297	08.1992 Near-Dnipro Railway	Zaporizhzhya (EMUs)	
ЭР2Т-7228	62-297	08.1992 Sverdlovsk railway	Perm`-2	
ЭР2Т-7227	62-297	08.1992	11.2013	Sverdlovsk railway	Perm`-2	Расформирован
ЭР2Т-7229	62-297	31.08.1992 Sverdlovsk railway	Perm`-2	
ЭР2Т-7231	62-297	09.1992 Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	с 11.2017 — КР-1 Красноярский ЭВРЗ
ЭР2Т-7232	62-297	09.1992 West Siberian railway	Novokuzneck (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7233	62-297	10.1992	07.2017	Moscow Railway	Nakhabino (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7234	62-297	11.1992 October railway	SPb-Balt	Московский ЛРЗ
ЭР2Т-7235	62-297	01.1993 Moscow Railway	Lobnya (EMU)	Расформирован
ЭР2Т-7236	62-297	02.1993 South Urals railway	Kurgan (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7237	62-297	04.1993 West Siberian railway	Novokuzneck (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7238	62-297	05.1993 Moscow Railway	Aprelevka (EMU)	ТР-3 ТЧ-7 Раменское
ЭР2Т-7239	62-297	05.1993 Sverdlovsk railway	Perm`-2	
ЭР2Т-7240	62-297	10.1993 Kuybyshev railway	Djoma (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7242	62-297	12.1993 Latvian Railways	RVR	Расформирован на заводе
ЭР2Т-1317 1994 Private carieers	AS "PV"	ЭР2Т-1317.10 и 03
ЭР2Т-7243	62-297	01.1994 Donetsk Railway	Liman	
ЭР2Т-7241	62-297	03.1994 Near-Dnipro Railway	Dnepr. (EMUs)	
ЭР2Т-7244	62-297	03.1994 Near-Dnipro Railway	Dnepr. (EMUs)	Приднiпров'я
ЭР2Т-7245	62-297	05.1994 Donetsk Railway	Yasinovataya МВПС	
ЭР2Т-7246	62-297	07.1994 L'viv Railway	RPCh-1 L'viv /	
ЭР2Т-7947	62-297	08.1994 Moscow Railway	Lobnya (EMU)	ЭР2Т-794701/723509
ЭР2Т-7247	62-297	02.1995 West Siberian railway	Novokuzneck (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7248	62-297	07.1995 Moscow Railway	Aprelevka (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-7249	62-297	09.1996 Near-Dnipro Railway	Dnepr. (EMUs)	Киевский ЭВРЗ
ЭР2Т-7250	62-297	01.2001 L'viv Railway	RPCh-1 L'viv /	
ER2T-7115R 11.2002 Private carieers	AS "PV"	
ЭР2Т-7251	62-297	02.2003 Georgian Railway	Tbilisi-pass	Закреплён на маршруте Кутаиси — Тбилиси (Ранее: Тбилиси — Батуми, Тбилиси — Боржоми)
ER2T-7113R 10.2006 Private carieers	AS "PV"	
ER2T-2207R 10.2007 Private carieers	AS "PV"	
ER2T-2008 07.2008 Private carieers	AS "PV"	
ЭР2Т-8010	62-297	11.2010	2017	Moscow Railway	Aprelevka (EMU)	ЭР2Т-7091
ЭР2Т-8011	62-297	12.2010	07.2018	Moscow Railway	Aprelevka (EMU)	
ЭР2Т-8012 11.2011 October railway	SPb-Balt	Сборный состав. Расформирован
ЭР2Т-8013 2014 October railway	SPb-Balt	Сборный состав, расформирован


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

You had technology to produce high speed EMU's. You had knowledge to produce trams. Now you'll have to import and that's bad. I hope that RER will survive since the have the ability to produce spare parts for these trains.


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## BHT (Jan 27, 2017)

-III- said:


> You had knowledge to produce trams.






















Do you know what's the difference between these two photos? Tram from RVR on the second one was produced later.

RVR had techonologies, but these were absolutely outdated and so was incompetent in economic competition. In 1990s, railways of RU/UA/BY had just continued buying these trains like it was before dissolution of SU, but there was no technological progress. The all success of RVR after 2003 (when last ER9 was delivered) is supplying of one "metro" trainset...


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## Art Nouveau City (Nov 23, 2018)

-III- said:


> I guess this is the reason why RvR had to bankrupt. Instead of buying their own, Latvians are forced to import.


Latvia is a small country, and small countries are not engaged in the production of railway locomotives.



-III- said:


> You *had technology* to produce *high speed* EMU's.


:lol:

Dude, your fantasies are so funny.


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

When was produced the tram from the second photo?

As far as I know, RvR had projects for completely new trams with modern technology. The same thing was with the trains but nobody wanted to invest because western companies wanted to take over the market in Baltic states. Now they are taking over in Ukraine as well.

There were several attempts to buy new trains for Latvian state railways but they all failed. This one is successful and it is the first public acquisition process where RvR didn't participate. Why? Because RvRs offer was much cheaper in comparison to western one. STADLER took over in Estonia.


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

Art Nouveau City said:


> :lol:
> 
> Dude, your fantasies are so funny.


Sup pal? Have you ever seen one of these:


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

> Latvia is a small country, and small countries are not engaged in the production of railway locomotives.


Czech Republic is small country too. 










So what's it gonna be?


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## Art Nouveau City (Nov 23, 2018)

^^
Dude, the Czech Republic is 5 times bigger than Latvia.



-III- said:


> Have you ever seen one of these:


This is not a high-speed train (maximum speed: 200 km/h, and a *cruising speed*: 140-150 km/h). These are technologies from the middle of the last century.


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

Latvian area: 64,589 km2

Czech area: 78,866 km2

Five times what?



> maximum speed - 200 km/h, and a cruising speed 140-150 km/h


Trains have no cruising speed dude. Airplanes do but trains don't. The ER200 can reach 200 km/h in regular traffic and SU had the signalization and tracks for such speeds.


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## BHT (Jan 27, 2017)

-III- said:


> When was produced the tram from the second photo?


1988 (vs. TFS from 1986/7).



> Czech Republic is small country too.


Yeah, but Škoda has never had problems with lack of customers - in the 1990s, it has supplied DMUs type 842/843 to ČD and developed e.g. new locos type 184 or EMUs type 470, followed by supplying of CityElefant EMUs or Astra trams, so there has been fluent progress, in difference from RVR.



> Five times what?


Population.


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

> 1988 (vs. TFS from 1986/7).


So what? ČKD also produced ''outdated'' trams and they showed much more reliable than those modern ones. Once again: RvR had projects for modern and sophisticated trams but nobody wanted to invest or do anything. 



> Yeah, but Škoda has never had problems with lack of customers - in the 1990s, it has supplied DMUs type 842/843 to ČD and developed e.g. new locos type 184 or EMUs type 470, followed by supplying of CityElefant EMUs or Astra trams, so there has been fluent progress, in difference from RVR.


RvR and RER also had customers but due the wrong politics one of them went bankrupt. Latvian trains and parts had their market share it was good. 



> Population.


So what? Latvia had industry and sea ports. RvR had its chance but it was destroyed by politicians form Latvia and EU so they could make room for western products.


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## Art Nouveau City (Nov 23, 2018)

-III- said:


> Latvian *area*: 64,589 km2
> 
> Czech *area*: 78,866 km2


:lol:

Dude, thank you.
You're making me laugh so hard.

The territory of Mongolia is larger than Germany, France and Great Britain put together. Mongolia is a great country?



-III- said:


> The ER200 *can reach* 200 km/h


Dude, this is the maximum speed, not real operational speed.


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

It can go over 200... but it's not recommended. 
Check out the inscription below. I know that you speak Russian.


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## -III- (Jun 2, 2018)

*ER35*

See this thing? That's the production plate on RvR train made for Yugoslav railways. It says that maximum speed is 120 km/h. But there's one more thing - the maximum construction speed. It's 130 km/h. The train is fixed so it can never reach it. It can go up to 120 km/h and that's it. You know why? Because it would start falling apart.










Same thing with ER200. Maximum speed is 200 km/h but the construction speed is above that. In regular traffic it can reach 200 km/h as same as ER35 (ER31) can reach 120 km/h.


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## Art Nouveau City (Nov 23, 2018)

-III- said:


> https://i.postimg.cc/ZRd9H4NV/STA60006.jpg
> 
> It can go over 200... but it's not recommended.
> Check out the inscription below. I know that you speak Russian.


Firstly, it does not contradict my words (this is the maximum speed, not real operational speed), and secondly, I never speak Russian, but I understand this language.


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## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

What's the fuss about? We live in a market economy. RvR simply couldn't compete and that's it. There is little to no conspiracy or politics involved here.


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