After Lithuanian Railways (LTG) launched the much anticipated Vilnius–Riga service, some mid-sized towns on the way are questioning why the train passes them by without making a stop.
The Vilnius–Riga service was launched right after Christmas and to big fanfare, with tickets for the New Year weekend selling out within hours. Nearly two months later, the interest has ebbed and the train is coursing half-empty. It could therefore benefit from including more stops on the route, reports Rinkosaikste.lt, a local newspaper of Kėdainiai.
Further reading
Hype over old route
The Vilnius–Riga train calls at four intermediary stops: Kaišiadorys, Šiauliai, and Joniškis in Lithuania and Jelgava in Latvia.
The railway connection between the two Baltic capitals had existed before but was not serviced for over two decades. For some, therefore, the hype from the LTG about the new route seemed overblown, highlighting the inadequacy of rail travel in the Baltics.
“One got the impression that Lithuania introduced trains for the first time, like 160 years ago. As if this was a trip to the Moon,” Rinkosaikste.lt quotes Stanislavas Federavičius, president of the Railway Workers’ Union Solidarumas.
Moreover, he said, many passengers using the service do not travel all the way to Riga but rather use it as a regional service. Adding more stops would make the route more popular.
Further reading
Too few stops
Šiauliai, one of the stops, is the biggest town in northern Lithuania and a railway hub. Meanwhile, the other two towns the train calls at – Kaišiadorys (population around 8,000) and Joniškis (around 8,500) – were included as part of a regional development policy, according to Rinkosaikste.lt.
LTG spokeswoman Aurelija Dermantė told the newspaper that these stops were also picked due to convenient connections with other train services.
Kaišiadorys, moreover, is the closest connection to Lithuania’s second biggest city Kaunas, which is not on the Vilnius–Riga track.
The track does, however, pass the town of Kėdainiai just north of Kaunas with a population of some 23,000, but does not stop there.
Attention from politicians
The new train service was recently discussed at the parliamentary Committee on Economy.
“We have separately discussed the problem raised by the people of Kėdainiai regarding the Vilnius–Ryga–Vilnius train stop in Kėdainiai,” Rinkosaikste.lt quotes MP Viktoras Fiodorovas. “I and the rest of the committee were not convinced by the arguments of the LTG representatives for why it does not stop in towns such as Kėdainiai.”
The committee, he continued, is planning to adopt a resolution urging the state-owned railway company to work closer with municipalities to promote rail travel and expand its accessibility.
LTG spokeswoman Dermantė said the company would consider adding more stops on the Vilnius–Riga route.
“LTG Link continuously analyses the actual route timetable data, passenger flows and infrastructure capacities in Lithuania and Latvia, and a stop in Kėdainiai would be reconsidered should favourable circumstances arise,” she said.
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