The new high-speed locomotives were supposed to start carrying passengers between Tallinn and Tartu a year and a half ago. €82 million has been spent on the procurement of the new trains so far, with €60 million outstanding.

While the hope had been that the new trains would begin operating in the direction of Tartu from July this year, this has been put back six months and they remain at Tapa, a major rail junction.

Railtrack operator Estonian Railways' (Eesti Raudtee) Technical Director Arvo Smiltinš said the delays are the result of several factors. "The railway between Tapa and Tartu is single-track, and we cannot simply close it to train traffic. Finding those compromises is one of the key reasons why the work has not progressed according to the original schedule," he told "Aktuaalne kaamera".

Problems have arisen with fine-tuning the traffic management system developed specifically for Estonia, he added.

"We have now introduced the new traffic management system on the section between Aegviidu and Tapa, and it has experienced technical teething problems that we need to resolve to avoid the same issues on the sections that follow," Smiltinš explained.

At the same time, the existing fleet has been diminished due to maintenance issues.

"As is well known, two trains that served long-distance routes were damaged at the end of last year and are still undergoing repairs. Across our entire diesel fleet we can offer roughly 3,000 seats, and about 375 of those are currently unavailable because the trains are being repaired," Elron board member Märt Ehrenpreis said.

While the renovation work is due to be finished by the end of this year, there are outstanding issues with operating permits too, so the new locomotives will not go online until "some time next year."

Smiltinš acknowledged that the original renovation schedule had been too optimistic, but said the work was now progressing well. He also said Elron had simply ordered the trains too early.

Ehrenpreis rejected this. "I won't comment on that, but I think we ordered the trains at the last possible moment. In reality, manufacturing and procuring trains is a very lengthy process," he said. The procurement had been a favorable deal under market conditions and the locomotives could not be obtained at that low of a price today, Ehrenpreis added.

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