From January, it became possible to travel by train from Tallinn through Tartu to Riga and Vilnius. Sometimes the trains have many passengers, even over a hundred.
Elron's CEO Märt Ehrenpreis said that half of the passengers travel between Tartu and Riga. Many also travel to Vilnius. Later, additional trains will be added on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
Ehrenpreis added that the return journey involves a transfer. Statistics for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are still being collected.
Construction work will soon begin on the Tartu-Valga railway. Trains will be able to travel there at speeds of up to 160 km/h. The main works are planned for the years 2025-2026.
Although test runs have been successful, Ehrenpreis does not know when high-speed trains will start. He said that surprisingly many people travel to Vilnius.
Lux Express CEO Ingmar Roos said that the number of passengers on their Tartu-Riga and Tartu-Vilnius routes has decreased by 20-25%. Starting from autumn, they will cancel a few departures.
Lux Express serves 20,000 passengers weekly on the Tallinn-Tartu and Tallinn-Võru lines. At peak times, there are 25,000. Approximately 850,000 people travel on these lines annually. The Tallinn-Riga line has 170,000–180,000 passengers per year.
Roos does not know if the state will start organizing trips with new trains. Lux Express believes that operations should be based on ticket revenue. Lux Express has not changed its ticket prices.