Tallinn, Estonia to Riga, Latvia by train (via Valga) a great railway journey in the Baltic states

[@realhawaii5o]

31:52 these trains' outsides are actually older, but the inside is renovated. Vivi, however, has new Škoda EMUs that entered service very recently.

[@Trainviking]

Oh really? I wouldn’t say that. Did the Skoda trains also entered service on this line?

[@lolk217]

@@Trainviking I believe that they haven't entered service on this line yet, for now the Riga- Jelgava, Riga- Tukums, Riga- Skulte and Riga- Lielvarde are the only lines where Skoda trains are in service.

[@mariadelmarjimenezarroyo]

Excellent video. First comment

[@Trainviking]

Than you.

[@Felix-no7nx]

If you are in Valga, you should DEFINITELY eat at the restaurant "Sinel" next to the military museum there! It has traditional food and is mostly used by workers. It is a bit far from the train station (15 min walk), but the station has free luggage lockers and the food in the restaurant is SOOOO good (and really cheap). There is also the "border swing" Valga-Valka where you can swing between the two countries. The Military Museum is also very interesting. The outside is free to visit and shows many tanks. Inside, which costs a few euros, there are many rooms with military themes, but also from the local fire brigade, police and state police. The round trip station - restaurant - museum - swing - station can easily be done in the waiting time beetwenn the two trains.

[@nonamespecified]

Thanks for the video, it's great on detail and very clear! I can see you've made a big effort trying to provide the most accurate information and I can say you've succeeded in that :) At this moment the service has been operating for a week and as far as I've seen I think it's been pretty smooth-sailing. Adjusting the timetables is such a small change but it makes a world of difference! Going further than that though, like unifying the ticketing system is of course much harder, so it's great they're putting effort into that too. An Elron representative has mentioned that they're aiming to introduce the system in Q1 of 2025, but we'll see how that goes. Regarding the Eurrail/Interrail pass, it is possible to use it, but it isn't really integrated into the system, so there's a separate procedure, which is mentioned on Elron's FAQ page. You've also mentioned removing the diesel engine from the trains at 17:22 and from what I've read, this is possible (Stadler has reportedly done it), yet I have no source for this. It would make a lot of sense to do this though, as after the electrification of Tartu and Narva lines is finished, a lot of capacity in the form of diesel trains will be left over (even after adding departures to the remaining unelectrified lines). One place where these trains could be utilized is the Tallinn commuter network, which is electrified (and has also been planned to be expanded to unused railways, with these parts not electrified, which is the perfect use case for combined battery/overhead power trains). Thus, reportedly, Elron has considered rebuilding these trains to electric/battery electric, but again, I don't have a source, so take this with a grain of salt.

[@Trainviking]

Whow that’s answering a lot of the questions I have. Thank you so much for the detailed answer.

[@DS.J]

Thanks for the video. I hope to try this route myself soon. It's good that Baltic countries finally realized that it's a good idea to use EXISTING railway infrastructure for passenger transport. There was a promise from LTG and the Latvian side that very soon it won't be needed to change trains in Riga i.e. the same Pesa 730M will go on Vilnius-Riga-Valga section and Estonian Stadler train will take over from there. This will also come with a single integrated ticket. When/if this happens, we'll be able to say that Baltic countries are once again connected with a somewhat proper and civilized train service. In fact, there is no reason why there couldn't be a direct train Vilnius-Riga-Tartu-Tallinn. With some improvements in existing infrastructure and maximum speeds increased to 140-160 km/h in most sections (perfectly doable), we could have travel times not exceeding 7 hours Vilnius to Tallinn. 11:10 - No, Škoda that makes trains has nothing to do with Škoda that makes cars. They only share the name due to historical reasons, but have nothing to do with each other in terms of ownership and structure.

[@Trainviking]

It would be so great to see that. Before Covid there also used to be a train from Vilnius to Daugavpils, I think it would be great to see that train back again as well, although I’ve been to Daugavpils a long time ago, it wasn’t whow but I’ve heard many things have changed there as well.

[@DS.J]

@Trainviking The plan is to run Pesa 730M (I think) between Vilnius and Daugavpils. LTG did mention that they plan to reintroduce this service so fingers crossed. Apparently there is travel demand between Visaginas and Daugavpils so it's definitely very important that this service is launched ASAP.

[@DS.J]

As for Rail Baltica, sadly you are right, there is no chance in the world that it will get finished in 2030, despite the project having been divided into two "phases" which was never a plan to begin with. The country that is doing by far the best with Rail Baltica progress is Estonia, while Lithuania is hopelessly stuck and Latvia also being a mess with its project planning. Anyway, I hope that despite huge delays, one day it will get built. Just wish it was done much faster.

[@jur4x]

There will be single track line and couple of cargo depots. Passenger travel between these three capitals is perfectly covered by busses and planes.

[@DS.J]

@@jur4x Flying is very far from "perfectly covering" anything, especially with all the inconveniences of flying. And buses can be perfect only in 3rd world countries where they just can't have any better.

[@Trainviking]

I would also say flying isn’t the solution at all. Especially not on these distances. Actually flights should be legally be replaced by busses for environmental reasons on these routes. I just hope things will work out.

[@DS.J]

@@Trainviking While I wouldn't necessarily support banning flights before Rail Baltica is complete and travel times cut VERY significantly, I kinda see flying as something that is more common in places that don't have good land public transport. Like US, for example, where you only fly or drive... or take a bus if you're extremely poor. Trains, especially fast ones, are the way to go. EU could perhaps do a bit more to improve cross-border train travel, because it's very far from perfect even between well established European railway markets like France and Spain. Or even Germany and France, where until recently there wasn't even a direct train between capital cities. There is some work to be done with ticketing systems especially. I hope Baltic countries keep moving to the right direction.

[@realhawaii5o]

26:47 Actually, the British came together with the Estonians and Latvians to draw the border after WW1 and that's what they came up with.

[@Trainviking]

Yes that’s true, I totally didn’t mention that. That treaty, what Moscow was trying to hide, together with the peaceful protest made these countries independent and now you have some of my favourite countries in Europe (especially Estonia, this has more to do with how the government is approaching many things and is super progressive on many levels).

[@jur4x]

Latvian segment of RailBaltic, is probably going to be single track and bypass Riga. In November government decide finishing first stage (a connection between LT and EE borders) is absolute priority, but everything else - maybe, if they find more money. By the way, Škoda making trains is not the same Škoda making cars. They separated decades ago, and car Škoda now belongs to Volkswagen Group. Similar like Rolls-Royce that makes aircraft engines is not the same as the one making luxury cars

[@Trainviking]

If they build single track, I think that’s actually fine, as long as they keep the space to have the capability to build a second track if it’s needed. Really a pitty if they will bypass Riga, I would say just no high speed rail segment around riga but let the train go slow there. Riga is the center of the Baltics, also has the biggest airport (even though I’m not pro flying at all). If Riga can build out the biggest airport for intercontinental flights from and to the Baltics, this could also benefit Estonia je Lithuania. In return, hire more railway staff from Estonia and Lithuania (because the job topic will be mentioned for sure)…. I just hope they will make wise decisions, I have my opinions but only based on feelings not on hard numbers and other data. Most importantly, if they build single track, create enough spots where trains can pass and also make sure there’s room to expand in the future without having geographical challenges / high costs (example I used to live in Almere Poort, they build a new station there, all great but they saved on building extra tracks so intercity trains could pass if a regional train is at the platform, now the number of trains will be increased and because it’s a new neighbourhood there’s less room now for extra tracks, now making more capacity would mean, building an entire new station. Just think a bit more in advance I would say, maybe spend a bit more now to save a lot of money later…. And don’t spend money like the railway station I’m feuturing in my next video, I can still get mad about that one, the station or Mons in Belgium).

[@mratp123]

Hey! So the bus station at Balti Jaam is not local but a regional bus station so technically a long distance coach station. And the entrance to the Balti jaam is closed on that side because it's not an entrance, it's a restorans back door.

[@Trainviking]

Aaahhh thanks for your reply.

[@Suursaadik]

Welkom in Estland! 27:43 - Noord - van TOEKOMSTIGE Republiek - grenswijziging - Zuid - naar VERLEDEN Sovjet! 😀

[@realhawaii5o]

2:08 No, it's not Televiski. It's Telliskivi 😅

[@PersonManManManMan]

It looks like Tallin and Estonia is pretty great place to visit, would like to fo some time

[@Trainviking]

It is!

[@JaanParnamae-gw8du]

Actually, there is in fact no buses from Tallinn to Russia. They are driving only until Narva. No car traffic over the border. Yes, there are some few buses from Tallinn to Saint Petersburg via Pechory and Pskov, but they are overbooked. -- I hope, the main railway station will not be in Ülemiste, it is outskirts of Tallinn, on top of a hill and in a big Soviet-Russian district by population, called Lasnamäe.

[@jamesau4296]

Haven't came here yet😅

[@Trainviking]

It’s worth visiting.

[@Usagi98962]

The boarder between Estonia and Latvia actually has been elryer then soviet union Same time as Russian had their revelation after ww1 Estonia Latvia and Lithuania were independent countries for 30 years Estonian economy back then was comparable to Finland so the actual boarder was made then.

[@Trainviking]

Actually that’s correct. I should have known this, silly me that I didn’t mention this.

[@JO-nh6mo]

at 25:05 train station of Valga there are russian tank cars from RZhD (russian railways). Why are they still in Estonia ? ? I know there are russian transit trains to Kaliningrad via Lithuania, but am rather surprised to see russian train material in 2025 still around...

[@TrainFanFinland]

There is still small number of freight trains running between Estonia and Russia and afaik also between Latvia and Russia, althought I'm not sure about that. Number of freight trains between Russia and Estonia did however drop significantly in 2022-2023. Similarly in my country (Finland) majority of freight rail to and from Russia ceased in 2022, but there is still small number of russian freight trains running weekly.

[@Trainviking]

Actually I thought the same. But someone already replied. If Putin will stop his ridiculous behaviour, things might get back to a little more normal.

[@gustavsberzins5639]

As a Latvian, I feel ashamed that we still operate these junky and super outdated trains, while Lithuanian and Estonian trains are ten times better and more modern.

[@mratp123]

Yes..... I also think that they should have like Estonia start restoring stops before new trains and make everything to the European standards (platforms and train heights) like Estonia and Lithuania. But in a positive side, PV or now vivi delivers a service with smaller costs enabling them to offer more. They also have the ability to rebuild trains and they've done it too. And it's not that bad.

[@Trainviking]

I think there’s a lot of great improvement going on in Latvia right now. Also I honestly hope that there will be more trains on some other routes in Latvia (like Riga - Liepaja). For me as a railway enthusiast, these trains are fun but for everyday users…, I don’t know. And in terms of keeping old rolling stock alive, I still think Belgium is the winner (not on my next video though, little spoiler alert)

[@jgodfrey546]

Aren't German stations barrier free as well...?

[@tobi6891]

Not all of them unfortunately...

[@jgodfrey546]

@tobi6891 thx for the clarification

[@Trainviking]

It’s already been answered. Most of them are but if they are, the trains are not always easy accessible. Another thing in Germany is the different heights of the platforms in east and west, what makes accessibility on a domestic level even harder.

[@jgodfrey546]

@Trainviking Thx. Never noticed the different platform heights Tbh

[@Попов-ч2е]

Где эстонцы берут рубли, для обмена на евро, на границе?

[@Trainviking]

я честно не знаю

[@Попов-ч2е]

@@Trainviking узнать можете, в полиции или госбезопасности.

[@mratp123]

It's TALLINN not Tallin:)!

[@mratp123]

So you have Tallinn in every other sentence, but not in the title😢

[@Trainviking]

I changed it, thanks for letting me know.