Latvian Railways

Latvian Railways (Latvian: Latvijas dzelzceļš or LDz) is the main state-owned railway company in Latvia with more than 12,400 employees. It owns 1,933.8 kilometres (1,201.6 mi) of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) Russian gauge railway lines and 33.4 kilometres (20.8 mi) of 750 mm (2 ft 5 1⁄2 in) narrow gauge railway lines in Latvia.[2] In 2019, annual passenger numbers were reported to be 18 million.[3]

Latvian Railways logo (1992-present, phaseout starting from 2018)[1]

It has 6 daughter companies:

  • AS "LatRailNet"
  • SIA "LDZ Apsardze" (security)
  • LDz infrastruktūra (infrastructure)
  • LDz Cargo (transportation)
  • LDz Ritošā sastāva serviss (rolling stock)

Domestic routes
Frequency of commuter trains, 2016

Passenger services are operated by Pasažieru vilciens. The passenger lines with current service are:

  • Torņakalns – Tukums II Railway1
  • Riga – Jelgava Railway2
  • Jelgava – Liepāja Railway services are twice a week
  • Riga – Daugavpils Railway3 3 to 4 times a day
  • Krustpils – Rēzekne – Zilupe (border of Russia)
    • Two trains a day from Riga continue past Krustpils on this diesel train line in Latvia's central and eastern countryside, as well as the daily service from Riga to Moscow.
  • Rīga – Sigulda – Cēsis – Valmiera – Valga (border of Estonia)
    • Leaving the Riga Central Station, this branch includes neighborhood stations Zemitāni, Čiekurkalns, and Jugla. During Soviet times, electric trains went up to Sigulda but the service is now diesel. Sigulda has around 11 trains a day, Cēsis 6, Valmiera 4, and 3 trains a day continue the full length of the line to serve the Latvian / Estonian border towns of Valka and Valga through a joint station in Valga.
  • Zemitāni – Skulte Railway4
  • Pļaviņas – Gulbene
    • This branch line from Pļaviņas (between Aizkraukle and Krustpils on the Riga – Daugavpils line) is served by two diesel trains a week from Riga. The trains arrive from Riga late on Friday and Sunday nights, leaving to return to Riga at 4am on Saturday and Monday mornings. An additional Saturday daytime service was suspended in 2012.

Lines where passenger services have been suspended in recent years include:

  • Rīga – Reņģe (Border of Lithuania)
  • Rīga – Ērgļi
  • Jelgava – Meitene (Border of Lithuania)
  • Jelgava – Krustpils
  • Kārsava (Border of Russia) – Rēzekne – Daugavpils – Zemgale (Border of Lithuania)
  • Eglaine (Border of Lithuania) – Daugavpils – Indra (Border of Belarus)

1 Electrified to Tukums 2 Electrified to Jelgava 3 Electrified to Aizkraukle 4 Whole line is electrified

International routes

International overnight services to/from Riga are operated by Latvijas Ekspresis (Latvia Express). There are rail links with Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Estonia.

Freight services

Latvian railways carry a large quantity of freight cargo, and freight trains operate over the whole current passenger network, and a number of lines currently closed to passenger services.

All railways with closed lines

Other services

There is a narrow gauge railway between Gulbene and Alūksne, operated by the company SIA "Gulbenes - Alūksnes bānītis" under government contract,[4] using Russian and Polish built heritage rolling stock. Three narrow gauge trains a day operate on the 33 km route between the two towns. As of 2019, the service has been extended to two daily trains in both directions.[5]

Rolling stock
A RVR train in Riga.

Diesel locos

Freight

  • M62 – 33 locos
  • 2M62 – 40 locos
  • 2M62U – 30 locos[6]
  • 2TE10M – 10 locos
  • 2TE10U – 14 locos

Passenger

Shunt

  • ČME3M, ČME3MB (ChME3) – 57 locos[7]
  • TEM2 – 7 locos
  • TGK2V – 1 loco
  • TGM3 – 1 loco
  • TGM23, TGM23B – 2 locos

EMUs
  • ER2 – 32 trains
  • ER2T – 6 trains (7113-7118)
  • ER2M – 1 train (No 605)
  • Škoda Vagonka EMUs – 32 trains ordered[8][9][10]

DMUs
  • DR1A – 31 trains
  • DR1AM – 10 trains
  • AR2 (railbus) – 1 train (used by workers on Jelgava-Krustpils line)

See also

References
  1. "LDz uzsācis vizuālās identitātes maiņas procesu". Latvijas dzelzceļš (in Latvian). 2018-10-09. Archived from the original on 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  2. "Network Statement 2007" (PDF). Latvijas dzelzceļš. 15 June 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  3. "Škoda wins Latvian order for 32 electric trains". Railtech. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  4. "About Company - Bānītis". www.banitis.lv. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
  5. "Timetable - Bānītis". www.banitis.lv. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
  6. "2M62UM". LDz Ritošā sastāva serviss. 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
  7. "ČME3M". LDz Ritošā sastāva serviss. 2014-11-19. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
  8. https://www.railjournal.com/fleet/latvian-emu-order-goes-to-skoda-after-tender-re-evaluation/
  9. https://www.railjournal.com/fleet/latvian-emu-order-finally-signed/
  10. "ŠKODA VAGONKA WON A CONTRACT FOR THE SUPPLY OF ELECTRIC TRAINS FOR LATVIA | Škoda Transportation a.s." skoda.cz. 2019-07-30. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
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