Re-Established Vilnius-Riga Rail Link is Successful
Rail travel between Latvia and Lithuania ceased as a regular passenger service in January 2004; in 2008, Lithuanian Railways removed a section of track to prevent freight oil trains coming from Lithuania's Mažeikiai refinery from heading to Latvia's Ventspils port for export. Direct passenger train service between Vilnius and Riga finally resumed on December 27, 2023.
Since December 27, 2023, nearly 62,000 passengers traveled by train between the capitals of Lithuania and Latvia. The route and stops:
Trains leave Vilnius daily at 7:05 and arrive in Riga at 11:04
Trains leave Riga daily at 16:55 and arrive in Vilnius at 21:03
Vilnius to Riga ticket for adults: E34 for First Class, E24 for Second Class. Discounts available
Buy tickets online: https://bilietas.ltglink.lt/
Buy train tickets with a bank card at 23 stations in Lithuania: Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Lentvaris, Kaišiadorys, Švenčionėliai, Kazlų Rūda, Trakai, Varėna, Naujoji Vilnia, Ignalina, Visaginas, Marijampolė, Jonava, Kėdainiai, Kretinga, Plungė, Telšiai, Radviliskis, Pabradė, and Vievis. Vilnius residents and visitors arriving at Vilnius Airport will also be able to buy tickets at the Vilnius Airport ticket machine.
In the first three quarters of 2024, 106,000 Latvian tourists came to Lithuania. "When Tallinn joins this route, the three Baltic capitals will become even more accessible. This will not only facilitate travel for local residents and tourists, but will also strengthen the international accessibility of Lithuania and the entire region. The connection from Vilnius to Tallinn will encourage tourists from both European and long-distance markets to discover new experiences in Lithuania and the Baltic States and contribute to the popularization of sustainable travel," said Olga Gončarova, head of the national tourism promotion agency "Travel Lithuania".
Until now, it has not been possible to travel from Vilnius to Tallinn by train in one day. The carriers of the three Baltic countries – LTG Link, Vivi and Elron – have already coordinated train schedules to ensure train connections between the capitals of the three countries:
Varying national tax requirements and the capabilities of each carrier’s IT systems mean that separate tickets must be bought for each operator, and these do not form a single transport contract. Work is currently under way to roll out a simpler ticketing system in Q1 2025. The total journey time from Tallinn to Vilnius under the timetable launched on January 6 is about 10½ hours, but it is hoped that the completion of infrastructure repairs in Estonia could reduce this by an hour. It is also envisaged that one of the changes of train could be eliminated.
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