TALLINN - At the railway station of Valga on the Estonian-Latvian border, the number of train passengers between Latvia and Estonia is on the rise after the creation of the possibility to smoothly change trains on the Tallinn-Vilnius route, Lõuna-Eesti Postimees reports.
On the first weekend after the opening of the route, about half of the passengers boarding the trains bound for Tartu came from the Latvian train, said Kristo Mäe, spokesman for Estonia's state-owned passenger train operator Elron. He said about 40 tickets had been bought in advance, and 20-25 passengers came from the train of the Latvian operator Vivi. As things stand, separate tickets have to be bough for each train and it is therefore difficult to compile statistics, with Elron only knowing how many people traveled to Valga or started their journey to Tallinn from Valga.
On Sunday, about 30 passengers from the Elron train continued their journey towards Riga, and another 30 passengers arriving from Latvia set off towards Tartu. The train service is particularly popular among foreigners traveling through the Baltic countries, including backpackers.
Passengers interviewed by Lõuna-Eesti Postimees complained that although the trains stop side by side next to the platform in Valga, there are no signs on the side of the Latvian train indicating where the train is going. To make sure one is boarding the right train, one has to walk to the front or back of the train to check the destination. There are also no destination indicators or electronic boards on the platform.
Mäe said that preparations are currently underway with the Latvian and Lithuanian passenger train operators to introduce a joint ticket.
"There are many technical and substantive challenges. For example, how the information exchange between the ticketing systems of different countries will take place. Also, the discounts available in the three countries differ," he said.
Passengers don't need to worry if one of the trains is delayed. The train operators of the three countries have agreed that no train will depart before the connecting train has arrived. However, if the delay is too long, the train operators will ensure that passengers reach their desired destination.
In early February, an Elron train will conduct a test ride to Riga in preparation for the direct train connection between Tartu and Riga. At the same time, executives of the Lithuanian and Latvian railway companies have promised that in February, the train of the Lithuanian operator LTG Link, currently running between Vilnius and Riga, will run up to Valga, thus eliminating the need to change trains in Riga on the Tallinn-Vilnius route.
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