rail transport in Latvia
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File:ЭР2Т-7116, Латвия, Рига, перегон Шкиротава - Саласпилс (Trainpix 169322).jpg ER2Т-7116 of Pasažieru vilciens en route between Šķirotava (Riga) and Salaspils, 2016]]
Rail transport in Latvia is done on {{RailGauge|1520mm}} Russian gauge. The main railway company is the state-owned Latvijas dzelzceļš (LDz), with its subsidiary Pasažieru vilciens (PV) providing passenger services.
Historically Latvia had lot of different rail gauges, most notably {{RailGauge|1435mm}} standard gauge and {{RailGauge|750mm}} narrow gauge. These were gradually replaced by the Russian gauge after the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.
The Rail Baltica project aims to connect Latvia and the other Baltic states to the European standard gauge by approximately 2030. Ten regional stations are planned in the section from Bauska to Salacgrīva.{{Cite web |date=2020-02-19 |title=Integrated rail plan for Rīga and regions being drawn up |url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/transport/integrated-rail-plan-for-riga-and-regions-being-drawn-up.a348943/ |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=eng.Lsm.lv |language=en}}
Although PV has been a monopolist in passenger train, in February 2022 the Road Transport Administration of the Ministry of Transport of Latvia announced the first market survey on potential private rail passenger service providers.{{Cite web |date=2022-02-16 |title=There is a market survey conducted for the provision of rail passenger transport starting from 2025 in Latvia {{!}} Satiksmes ministrija |url=https://www.sam.gov.lv/en/article/there-market-survey-conducted-provision-rail-passenger-transport-starting-2025-latvia |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=www.sam.gov.lv |language=en}}
Future expansion
{{See also|Rail Baltica}}
Rail Baltica is an ongoing greenfield railway infrastructure project which will link all Baltic States, including Latvia, Poland and, eventually, Finland. Being a part of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T), it is one of the priority projects of the European Union.{{cite web |title=Rail Baltica – Project of the Century |url=https://www.railbaltica.org/about-rail-baltica/ |access-date=15 October 2021 |website=Rail Baltica}} It will introduce standard-gauge high-speed rail with an operating speed of 249 km/h for passenger trains. As of 2023, the Rail Baltica project completion is scheduled for 2030, with a start of services on some of the sections in 2028.[https://www.railbaltica.org/about-rail-baltica/ Rail Baltica – Project of the Century"] on the Rail Baltica official website, accessed on 26 April 2023.
= Rail links with adjacent countries =
=Conversion to Standard Gauge=
In 2022 the European Union proposed to convert all non-standard gauges in Europe to standard gauge. The Latvian government believes it would require major EU funding to implement. {{cite web |title=Latvia is not ready for a full transition to the 1435 mm Eurogauge |url=https://gmk.center/en/news/latvia-is-not-ready-for-a-full-transition-to-the-1435-mm-eurogauge/ |date=13 January 2023}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite web| url=http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r096.html| title=The State Lines of Latvia| work=Mike's Railway History}}
- [https://www.europebyrail.eu/new-direct-train-from-kiev-to-latvia/ New direct train from Kyiv to Latvia]
- [https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Rail_passenger_transport_by_type_of_transport,_2017-2018_(thousand_passengers).png "Latvia registered the largest increase with +368.9 %.."]
{{Rail transport in Europe}}
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