Trains between Valga and Tartu are to become more frequent next year, though there will be changes to the usual timetables this summer due to repair work.

On Friday morning, the train arriving at Valga railway station from Riga continued towards Tallinn with a five-minute delay. A couple of dozen people disembarked at Valga.

However, the Riga connection is simply an extension of the Tallinn –Valga line and one of the morning trains from Valga to Tartu was delayed by two hours. According to Valga County local government leaders, that causes a great deal of inconvenience for people.

At the same time, Elron's statistics show that even under the previous timetable, passenger numbers on the route were not high. In November, fewer than 30 people boarded the train at Valga station with an average of 37 arriving in Tartu.

"Local government leaders and our people point out that since we have fewer residents here, the number of passengers is also going to be smaller. Every person is important and ought to be taken into account," said Ivar Unt, who heads the Valga County Public Transport Center.

On Friday, the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture in cooperation with Valga County local government leaders agreed to launch a trial Valga–Tartu bus service for a temporary period of a few months.

"In order to ensure everyone who has been using this train line can continue to travel, we are launching a bus service that departs from Valga in the morning and arrives in Tartu at 8:45 a.m. It will stop at the destinations where people previously boarded the train," said Minister of Regional Affairs and Agriculture Hendrik Johannes Terras (Eesti 200).

"We will be doing this from March 1 to June 10. In other words, we will run a pilot program until the start of the school break. If the line is successful, we will continue with it until we can bring the trains back at the same times they ran at before they were taken away," Terras added.

In a year's time, when Elron's new electric trains are in operation, the diesel train schedule between Valga and Tartu can also be adapted.

"We have to have a little patience because there will be railway repairs in the summer. However, from 2027, we will have seven connections instead of five, and there will also be a train returning that arrives in Tartu at 9 a.m.," said Mayor of Valga Mart Kase.

"This is a big win for Valga, as it will allow our people to go to work in Tartu. It will also encourage more people to come and live here when they see that there are so many convenient connections," Kase added.

Elron's direct train between Tartu and Riga has now been operating for a month. An average of under 30 people have used it on each trip so far. However, ticket sales in Latvia have only just begun.

"This is quite expected – we assumed that it would be slow at the start and then gradually grow. But we have had days when more than 30 passengers have boarded in Riga," said Elron Board Chair Lauri Betlem.

In the summer, when more passengers on the route would be expected, Eesti Raudtee is due to renovate its infrastructure. This is likely to cause disruptions to both the Valga and Riga connections from Tartu.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!