Estonian Railways had been forced to push the reconstruction deadline of the Tapa-Tartu section to the second half of next year, due to an accumulation of various reasons, Zimmermann added.

Elron recently announced that it will not tighten up passenger train schedules this autumn and gave as the reason Estonian Railways' delayed infrastructure works. Estonian Railways responded that Elron has been constantly informed about the works, postponed by a year.

Speaking to "Uudis+", Zimmermann said: "First we finish the signaling works at Tapa station, or rather those have already been finished; right now testing is ongoing, and from the first of September we will hopefully get the operating permit and trains will then be able to run as far as Tapa. And then by the end of the year (the train) should be in Jõgeva and at the beginning of next year then in Tartu."

That the completion deadline for the works would shift to the second half of next year became clear to Estonian Railways in April-May this year, when it emerged that the signalling works would have to be redesigned, Zimmermann went on.

"Perhaps we had been [earlier] a little too optimistic, thinking that everything could be done in parallel. But at the time when there are large excavators on the site, then /.../ we see that already now they are breaking all our old cables all the time, so there is no point in trying to do everything in parallel. Some works must be finished beforehand, the big machines must be off the site. Only then is it possible to start laying smaller cables so that they won't be broken right away," Zimmermann added.

Zimmermann noted that in May of this year both the minister and Elron learned from his company that some renovations planned to be finished by this September would be delayed, mainly signaling works.

With Kiltsi and Rakke stations it turned out that platforms and station tracks there must be rebuilt, and meaning the already completed contact line had to be moved to a new place and the signaling redesigned, Zimmermann went on.

He noted that the company has installed a new timetable from September 1 so that Elron's trains can run without needing replacement bus services.

"We still have works ongoing between Lagedi and Aegviidu with the construction of the contact line, in addition to the construction of six platforms where there are small speed restrictions, so actually train traffic will be normalized," Zimmermann added.

Trains canceled between Tartu and Koidula and the Rakvere train cancellation were decisions made by Elron and not directly related to Estonian Railways' work, since the company is not carrying out works on those sections, Zimmermann said.

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