Elron wants to make the trains operating between Tartu and Riga more comfortable and use funds allocated for operating the route to do so, according to a letter the company sent to the Ministry of Climate.

The funds are available because the initially planned second daily departure has not yet been launched due to a shortage of trains.

The state allocates Elron €2 million annually to operate the route with two departures per day in both directions, with an additional €300,000 allocated this year for preparatory costs.

According to Elron's calculations, this year's funding would cover the operation of the route with one daily departure as well as the modernization of three trains.

Citing passenger feedback, Elron said more comfortable trains would help increase passenger numbers on the Tartu-Riga route and provide an opportunity to generate revenue by renting out the trains while they are in Latvia.

All this should help better cover the costs of the Tartu-Riga route, Elron CEO Lauri Betlem noted.

The plan to rent out trains in Latvia is linked to a procurement by Latvian passenger rail operator Vivi, which wants to rent diesel trains for three routes: Lithuanian border–Daugavpils–Riga–Daugavpils–Lithuanian border; Riga–Valga–Riga; and Riga–Daugavpils–Riga. The procurement procedure is still ongoing.

"We submitted a bid for the last route because the current direct Tallinn-Riga service arrives in Riga at around 9 p.m. and begins its return journey at 7.30 a.m. The time in between is free, during which it would make sense to put the train to work. This would also expand connections for Estonian passengers to central and southeastern Latvia," Elron's head of customer experience Kristi Unt told ERR.

New seats, carpets, footrests

Elron plans to modernize the seats in three trains, equip every seat with a power socket, replace the tables with longer ones, add footrests to standard-class seats, replace the carpet in first class and redecorate one train. There are also discussions about adding luggage areas and vending machines.

Unt said that there are no plans to completely rebuild the trains. "We are primarily talking about limited interior work," she explained.

In total, the modernization of the three trains would cost €756,000, including a small reserve, or €252,000 per train. Together with the costs of operating the route, this would amount to slightly less than €2.2 million, which is less than the state allocated to Elron this year.

Betlem said Elron can start modernizing the trains in early November when a four-car diesel train that was sent for repairs following a traffic accident in 2025 returns to service.

The ministry has given Elron preliminary approval, but final confirmation is now needed from the Ministry of Climate.

Elron currently has three two-car trains and one three-car train authorized to operate on Latvia's railway network. The European Union Agency for Railways is expected to authorize another three three-car trains soon.

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