Rail transport in Estonia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Balti jaam (German Baltischer Bahnhof ) is the largest train station in the Estonian capital Tallinn .

The Estonian railway network consists of 1200 kilometers, 900 kilometers of which are in public use. The railway infrastructure is largely state-owned and is regulated by the technical monitoring authority ( Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet ).

As in Russia , Belarus , Latvia and Lithuania, all railway lines in Estonia are built in Russian gauge . This gauge is compatible with the Finnish 1524 millimeter gauge.

The Estonian railway network is largely used for freight transport. Tourist traffic plays a subordinate role and is concentrated in Tallinn.

history

A Corpet Louvet locomotive in Estonia (1930)

In 1870 the first line was opened from Paldiski (then Baltischport ) via Tallinn , Tapa and Narva to St. Petersburg . As everywhere in the Russian Empire , to which Estonia as the Estonia Governorate then belonged, the line was built in Russian broad gauge and was intended to create a corridor between St. Petersburg and Warsaw. The construction project was led by the Russian Ministry of Transport. The port of Paldiski was used as a starting point, as it is usually free of ice all year round due to its comparatively southern location. The construction of the railway line led to an increase in the trade of grain in particular in Paldiski and Tallinn.

In 1877 another line was completed between Tapa and Tartu , which was extended to Valga in 1887 . This created a connection to Latvia via the Pskow – Valga – Riga line, which was completed at the same time.

From 1896 a network of narrow-gauge railways (750 millimeters) was created. The first narrow-gauge line was built between Valga and Pärnu , connections to Mõisaküla and Viljandi followed in 1897. The narrow-gauge network was extended in 1901 via Paide to Tallinn.

Estonian Republic (1918-1940)

The Karuse station building (built in 1928) on the former Rapla - Virtsu narrow-gauge line

After the collapse of the Russian Empire as a result of the First World War, Estonia declared itself a republic in 1918, but was initially occupied by troops of the German Empire. As a result of the German defeat and after fending off the Soviet invasion in the Estonian War of Independence , Estonia was internationally recognized in 1920.

At that time, the Estonian railways had 648 kilometers of broad gauge and 187 kilometers of narrow gauge. A total of 90 broad-gauge and 72 narrow-gauge locomotives, including the wagons that go with them, were available.

The individual companies Looderaudtee (Nord-Westbahn) Esimese Juurdeveoteede Selts (first merger of the connecting railways) as well as several military and other railways were merged to Eesti Raudtee (EVR). As a consequence of Estonia's independence, the railway buildings no longer had to be built according to the imperial style prescribed by Russia, which enabled the emergence of numerous new architectural styles, in particular neo-baroque elements with romantic-traditional elements as well as functionalist architecture in the 1930s.

In 1931 a broad gauge line was opened between Tartu and Petseri .

In 1940 the EVR had 772 kilometers of broad-gauge lines and 675 kilometers of narrow-gauge lines.

Estonian Soviet Republic (1940–1991)

In June 1940, Estonia was annexed by the Soviet Union , which reorganized the country into the Estonian Soviet Republic . The EVR was incorporated into the Russian rail system. Between 1941 and 1944, Estonia was occupied by the German Reich ; the broad gauge lines were changed to standard gauge to enable the use of German rolling stock. After the end of the Second World War, the tracked routes were backtracked back to broad gauge.

The Lagedi - Muuga railway line was built from 1980 to connect the port of Muuga.

Large parts of the railway infrastructure were destroyed during the Second World War, as a result of which numerous railway buildings were built in the style of socialist classicism ("Stalinist confectioner style").

The Soviet administration concentrated on the broad gauge lines; Large parts of the freight traffic previously transported over narrow-gauge routes were shifted to road transport. From 1960, some of the narrow-gauge lines were switched to broad-gauge, the rest of them closed until 1971. From 1957 steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives. Despite the closure of the narrow-gauge lines, the volume of traffic developed positively: in 1945, 12.2 million travelers and 4.3 million tons of goods were carried. The Estonian rail network, together with the network of the other Baltic republics, was assigned to the Pribaltiiskaya sector .

In 1980, 36.5 million travelers were carried. In 1986 the construction of the port of Muuga northeast of Tallinn began; In the course of the project, the adjoining railway lines were expanded. So was z. B. the railway line between Tallinn and Tapa expanded to two tracks. In 1990, 30.1 million tons of freight were carried; the increase was largely due to the opening of the port.

Republic of Estonia (from 1991)

In 1991, Estonia broke away from the Soviet Union, and on January 1, 1992, Eesti Raudtee (EVR) was re-established as a state-owned company.

privatization

In 1997, as part of a privatization project, EVR was incorporated into Estonian Railways Ltd. reorganized.

The following three subcontractors were subsequently established:

  • In 1997 Edelaraudtee AS was founded to operate the non-electrified routes Tallinn – Tartu, Tallinn – Rakvere – Narva, Tallinn – Rapla, Tallinn – Türi – Viljandi, Tallinn – Pärnu and TartuPõlva – Orava. The company also handled freight traffic on the Tallinn-Pärnu-Mõisaküla and Lelle-Viljandi routes.
  • In 1998, Elektriraudtee AS was founded to handle S-Bahn traffic in Tallinn and the adjacent Harju district.
  • In 1998 EVR Ekspress was founded to operate international long-distance connections.

The privatization of Eesti Raudtee was later reversed, but the split and spin-off was retained. The structure of the Estonian railroad was thus as follows: Edelaraudtee became the infrastructure operator of the Tallinn – Viljandi / Pärnu routes as well as the provider of local transport services on the entire Estonian rail network, including the routes of the infrastructure operator Eesti Raudtee , which itself only operated goods traffic. Elektriraudtee served the Tallinn local traffic with routes to Paldiski ( railway line Tallinn – Paldiski ), Aegviidu ( railway line Tallinn – Narva ) and in the direction of Riisipere (railway line Keila – Riisipere / Haapsalu).

Development since 2000

Locomotive 1550 (GE-C36-7i) with a freight train shortly before Püssi in August 2019
Stadler Flirt at Keila station

In 2004, Estonia joined the European Union. For rail traffic, this meant that, in accordance with Directive 91/44, the separation of infrastructure and operations was implemented in order to allow access by providers other than the state. The Russian company Severstal now operates its own freight transport in Estonia.

EVR Ekspress was taken over by the Go Group , an Estonian tourism group founded in autumn 2004, and renamed Go Rail . Go Rail operates night connections to Moscow and Saint Petersburg . The Tallinn – St. Petersburg, like many others, is also served by long-distance passenger transport ( Eurolines ), which dominates long-distance passenger transport in Estonia as in the entire Baltic region.

In 2012, Eesti Raudtee was restructured again . The freight transport was spun off as an independent company under the name EVR Cargo (since 2018 Operail ). Since then, Eesti Raudtee has only been a pure network operator.

A year later, Elektriraudtee took over the entire national passenger transport (diesel multiple units and electric local transport in the greater Tallinn area) and has since operated under the name Elron (shortened from Eesti Liinirongid ). New generation train sets that have already been delivered have been re-labeled.

900 kilometers of railway line are to be electrified by 2028. Total costs of EUR 295.1 million are calculated, a large part of which is to be borne by the EU. After completion, the Estonian railway network will be almost entirely electric.

network

  • Total length: around 1200 kilometers, of which 900 kilometers are in public use.
  • Track width: 1520 millimeters ( Russian track )
  • Electrified: 133 kilometers

The Estonian rail network is owned by the state rail infrastructure company AS Eesti Raudtee and the private rail infrastructure company Edelaraudtee Infrastruktuuri AS. AS Eesti Raudtee operates lines with a length of 800 kilometers, of which 107 are double-track and 133 km are electrified. Edelaraudtee Infrastruktuuri AS operates routes with a length of 298 kilometers, 79 kilometers of which run in the station area.

Main lines

Route network in Estonia (2009)
All existing and former railway lines in Estonia

Operated by AS Eesti Raudtee :

  • Tallinn – Narva railway line (209.6 kilometers). This line was completed in 1870. It connects Tallinn and Narva with St. Petersburg. Passenger trains are operated by Elron on the Tallinn – Aegviidu , Tallinn – Tartu, Tallinn – Rakvere and Tallinn – Narva routes , as well as by GO Rail to Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg).
  • Tallinn – Paldiski railway line (47.7 kilometers). Passenger trains are operated by Elron on the Tallinn – Pääsküla , Tallinn – Keila, Tallinn – Paldiski and Tallinn – Klooga-rand routes .
  • Keila– Riisipere (15.4 miles). Passenger trains are operated by Elron. The route between Riispere and Haapsalu was discontinued in 2004.
  • Tapa – Tartu railway line (112.5 kilometers). The line was completed in 1877.
    Passenger trains are offered by Elron on the Tallinn – Tartu and Tartu – Jõgeva sections .
  • Tartu – Valga railway line (82.5 kilometers). The line was completed in 1887. In Valga there is a connection to the Latvian network. Passenger trains between Tartu and Valga are operated by Elron. Passenger trains between Valga and Riga are operated by the Latvian Railways.
  • Tartu – Pechory railway line (83.5 kilometers). The line was built between 1929 and 1931 when Pechory was part of Estonia. The last Estonian train station before Pechory, which has been in Russia since 1940, is Koidula.
  • Valga – Pechory railway line (91.5 kilometers). The line is part of the connection from Riga to Pskov, which has been in operation since 1889. The route is only used for freight traffic.

Operated by Edelaraudtee Infrastruktuuri AS:

  • Lelle – Pärnu - (Mõisaküla) railway line (65 kilometers, previously 114 kilometers). Originally there was a narrow-gauge connection via Mõisaküla to Latvia. The line to Pärnu was re-gauged in the early 1970s, the rest was initially closed, but also rebuilt in the mid-1980s, making a second connection between Tallinn and Riga possible. In 2008 the line between Pärnu and Mõisaküla was closed again. In December 2018, traffic on the entire route was finally suspended. However, when Rail Baltica is completed in 2026, Pärnu is to be connected to the new connection between Tallinn and Riga.
  • Tallinn – Viljandi railway line (78.7 kilometers). The line connects Viljandi with Tallinn, until 1971 the line was in narrow gauge.

Routes used only for freight traffic

TEP70-0229 with night train 33 near Rakvere in August 2019
  • Põlevkivi Raudtee ( Oil Sands Railway ) operates over 200 kilometers of routes in Ida-Virumaa . The routes are mainly used to transport oil sands from the production sites to the Narva power plant. The company is a subcontractor of Eesti Põlevkivi owned by the state-owned Eesti Energia .
  • Rakvere - Kunda (19 kilometers). The line, built in 1896, connects the industrial city of Kunda with the Tallinn – Tapa – Narva line. The route is owned by the Kunda Trans company.

Connections to neighboring countries

Since July 2015, only the 33/34 night train pair, for which GoRail is responsible on Estonian territory, has operated between Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Moscow. All other international passenger train connections were given up. In Valga, however, there is a connection to the network of the Latvijas dzelzceļš , who have linked their trains here to Estonia.

As part of Rail Baltica , a standard-gauge high-speed line is to be built between the Baltic states with a connection to Poland and a tunnel under the Baltic Sea to Helsinki.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m About Estonian Railways - History . Eesti Raudtee. Archived from the original on January 8, 2007.
  2. ↑ a b c d Martin Jänes: European Heritage Days - Places of arrival and departure, Section "Tickets Please" . Swedish National Heritage Board. 2006. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 16, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.muinas.ee
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Estonia Railways - the heavy hauler . Railways Illustrated. November 2003. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  4. ↑ a b Sakari Salo, Illka ​​Hovi: Estonian railways today . Today's Railways . May 2003. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  5. ↑ a b Parbo Juchnewitsch: Restructing and Privatization of Estonian Railways . Japan Railway & Transport Review. September 1999. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  6. ↑ a b c d e About Estonian Railways: Corporate information: History . Eesti Raudtee. Archived from the original on January 8, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 10, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.evr.ee
  7. ↑ Edelaraudtee - About us . Edelaraudtee. Archived from the original on September 6, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 16, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.edel.ee
  8. ↑ Elektriraudtee - Ajalugu . Elektriraudtee. Accessed on November 16, 2009.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.electriraudtee.ee  
  9. ^ David Parker: Privatization in the European Union: Theory and Policy Perspectives . Routledge, 1998, ISBN 978-0-415-15469-7 , p. 25.
  10. ^ Russian companies long to take freight transport from Estonian Railways . Eesti Raudtee. November 11, 2004. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 16, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.evr.ee
  11. ↑ EVR Cargo is now operational . EVR Cargo. June 22, 2016. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Estonia: the route network is to be largely electrified by 2028" on lokreport.de
  13. ^ Estonian Technical Surveillance Authority . Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  14. ↑ Eesti Raudteemuuseum ( et ) Archived from the original on September 7, 2009. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 9, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / jaam.ee
  15. ↑ Tanel Mazur: Mõisaküla: viimane sõit raudteed pidi Pärnusse (et) , Eesti Päevaleht . July 16, 2007. Retrieved August 11, 2007. 
  16. ↑ Tõnu Kann: Koos Pärnu-Mõisaküla raudteega hääbub elu ja sureb linn (et) , Pärnu Postimees . November 8, 2008. Archived from the original on September 9, 2009 Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 13, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.parnupostimees.ee 
  17. ↑ Eesti Põlevkivi: Raudteetransport ( et ) Archived from the original on September 7, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 10, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ep.ee
  18. ↑ 138 years of cement . Retrieved December 10, 2008.

Web links

Commons : Rail transport in Estonia  - collection of images, videos and audio files