First new electric trains delivered to Latvia

RIGA - The first two electric train cars have arrived in Riga, passenger rail company Pasazieru Vilciens informed LETA.

The trains, manufactured by the Czech company Skoda Vagonka, were transported by road, and will assembled in the near future. The trains will then be tested in the coming months before they are officially put into operation.

Two more train cars will be delivered next week.

According to the original plan the trains were supposed to arrive in Latvia by railway, but because of the war in Ukraine it is no longer possible, which is why Skoda Vagonka has decided to deliver the trains by road.

As reported, on February 23, the day before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Skoda Vagonka CEO Martin Bednarz told journalists that the first electric trains might be delivered to Latvia for testing in March or April. Skoda Vagonka has pledged to deliver all 32 new electric passenger trains to Pasazieru Vilciens rail company by the end of 2023 under the contract concluded in 2019.

The total costs of the project reach EUR 257.889 million.