Latvijas dzelzcelš
Encyclopedia
Latvian Railways is the main state-owned railway company
in Latvia
with more than 12,400 employees. It owns 1933.8 kilometres (1,201.6 mi) of Russian gauge
railway lines and 33.4 kilometres (20.8 mi) of narrow gauge railway lines in Latvia.
It has 7 daughter companies:
Two diesel 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
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.
This branch line from Plavinas (between Aizkrukle 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.
There is also a Narrow gauge railway between Gulbene
and Aluksne
, operated by the Industrial Heritage Trust. Three narrow gauge trains a day operate on the 33 km route between the two towns
Lines where passenger services have been stopped in recent years include:
1 Electrified to Tukums
2 Electrified to Jelgava
3 Electrified to Aizkraukle
4 Electrified to Jugla, no electric trains go on the line.
5 Whole line is electrified
Daily overnight service
Daily overnight service
The daily overnight service between St Petersburg and Vilnius passes through Lithuania, giving an early morning service to Vilnius with a return journey in the evening and an overnight service to St Petersburg.
Passenger
Shunt
Railway company
A railway company or railroad company is an entity that operates a railroad track and/or trains. Such a company can either be private or public...
in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
with more than 12,400 employees. It owns 1933.8 kilometres (1,201.6 mi) of Russian gauge
Russian gauge
In railway terminology, Russian gauge refers to railway track with a gauge between 1,520 mm and . In a narrow sense as defined by Russian Railways it refers to gauge....
railway lines and 33.4 kilometres (20.8 mi) of narrow gauge railway lines in Latvia.
It has 7 daughter companies:
- Pasažieru VilciensPasažieru VilciensPassenger Train is the only passenger-carrying railway company in Latvia, operating both electric and diesel trains on various lines throughout the country. It was formed in November 2001 by bringing together three separate companies under one name, creating the first subsidiary of Latvian Railways...
(Passenger Train) - Starptautiskie pasažieru pārvadājumi (International Passenger Transportations)
- VRC Zasulauks (Reconstruction centre Zasulauks)
- LDZ apsardze (LDz Security)
- LDz infrastruktūra (LDz Infrastructure)
- LDz Cargo
- LDz ritošā sastāva serviss (LDz Rolling Stock Service)
Domestic lines
The passenger lines are:- Torņakalns – Tukums II RailwayTorņakalns – Tukums II RailwayThe Torņakalns – Tukums II Railway is a long, gauge railway built in the 19th century to connect Riga and Tukums....
1 - Riga – Jelgava RailwayRiga – Jelgava RailwayThe Riga – Jelgava Railway is a long, gauge railway built in the 19th century to connect the cities Riga and Jelgava....
2 - Jelgava – Liepāja RailwayJelgava – Liepāja RailwayThe Jelgava – Liepāja Railway is a long, gauge railway built in the 20th century to connect the cities Jelgava and Liepāja....
- Riga – Daugavpils RailwayRiga – Daugavpils RailwayThe Riga – Daugavpils Railway is a long, gauge railway built in the 19th century to connect the cities Riga and Daugavpils....
3 - Krustpils – RēzekneRezekneIn the 19th century, the population of Rēzekne was 2/3 Jewish. As a result of the Pale of Settlement many Jews settled in Latgalia and were confined to the cities. The remainder of the population included Poles, Germans, Russians, and an extreme minority of native Latgalians...
– ZilupeZilupeZilupe is a town of a few hundred inhabitants in Latvia, by the Zilupe River, on the border with Russia. Zilupe's railway station is the final station for the Riga-Zilupe train route, which is one of the longest passenger rail routes in Latvia...
(border of Russia)
Two diesel 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 – SiguldaSiguldaOther twinnings: Keila, Estonia chiatura Georgia-References:* , , , , , and -External links:*...
– CēsisCesisCēsis , is a town in Latvia located in the northern part of the Central Vidzeme Upland. Cēsis is on the Gauja River valley, and is built on a series of ridges above the river overlooking the woods below...
– ValmieraValmieraValmiera is the largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of 18.1 km². It is the center of the Valmiera District. As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2008 – 27,569....
– Valga (border of Estonia)4
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
Valka
Valka is a town in northern Latvia, on the border with Estonia.Valka and the Estonian town Valga are twins, separated by the Estonian/Latvian border but using the slogan "One Town, Two States". The border dividing the Livonian town of Walk was marked out in 1920 by an international jury headed by...
and Valga through a joint station in Valga.
- Zemitāni – Skulte RailwayZemitāni – Skulte RailwayThe Zemitāni – Skulte Railway is a long, gauge railway built in the 20th century to connect Riga and Rūjiena. The railway was originally part of the Mangaļi – Rūjiena Railway that opened 1937. In 1981 the line became part of the Riga – Tallinn Railway, with a travel time of only five hours...
5 - Plavinas – GulbeneGulbeneGulbene and the surrounding Gulbene municipality are located in North-eastern Latvia and adjoin the Alūksne, Balvi, Madona, Cēsis and Valka regions....
This branch line from Plavinas (between Aizkrukle 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.
- Other services
There is also a Narrow gauge railway between Gulbene
Gulbene
Gulbene and the surrounding Gulbene municipality are located in North-eastern Latvia and adjoin the Alūksne, Balvi, Madona, Cēsis and Valka regions....
and Aluksne
Aluksne
Alūksne is a town on the shores of Lake Alūksne in northeastern Latvia near the borders with Estonia and Russia. It is the seat of Alūksne municipality.- History :...
, operated by the Industrial Heritage Trust. Three narrow gauge trains a day operate on the 33 km route between the two towns
Lines where passenger services have been stopped in recent years include:
- 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 Russia)
1 Electrified to Tukums
2 Electrified to Jelgava
3 Electrified to Aizkraukle
4 Electrified to Jugla, no electric trains go on the line.
5 Whole line is electrified
International routes
- RigaRigaRiga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
– Moscow
Daily overnight service
- RigaRigaRiga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
– Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
Daily overnight service
- St Petersburg – Rēzekne 2 – DaugavpilsDaugavpilsDaugavpils is a city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. Daugavpils literally means "Daugava Castle". With a population of over 100,000, it is the second largest city in the country after the capital Riga, which is located some...
– VilniusVilniusVilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
The daily overnight service between St Petersburg and Vilnius passes through Lithuania, giving an early morning service to Vilnius with a return journey in the evening and an overnight service to St Petersburg.
Diesel locos
Freight- M62 – 33 locos
- 2M62 – 40 locos
- 2M62U – 30 locos
- 2TE10M – 10 locos
- 2TE10U – 14 locos
Passenger
- TEP70TEP70The TEP70 main line single unit diesel passenger locomotive, rated at 2964 kW , with AC/DC transmission and individual axle traction control, is designed to haul passenger trains on the Russian Federation lines RZD with the broad gauge....
– 15 locos
Shunt
- ČME3 (ChME3)- 57 locos
- TEM2 – 7 locos
- TGK2 – 1 loco
- TGM3 – 1 loco
- TGM23 – 2 locos
EMUs
- ER2ER2 electric trainsetBeginning in 1962 the Railroad Machinery Plants of Riga and Kalinin started to release ER2 electric trainsets instead of ER1s. ER2 cars have footboards for low platforms, and aprons for high platforms, installed in the train yards. The presence of footboards caused body to be redesigned. The same...
– 32 trains - ER2T – unknown (many)
- ER2M – 1 train (No 605)
Rail links with adjacent countries
- Same gauge
-
RussiaRail transport in RussiaThe Russian railways are one of the economic wonders of the 19th, 20th, and 21st century world. In length of track they are second globally to the railways of the United States. In volume of freight hauled, they are third behind the United States and China, using the standard measure of...
– yes -
Lithuania – yes -
Belarus – yes -
EstoniaRail transport in EstoniaThe rail transport system in Estonia consists of circa of railway lines, of which are currently in public use. The infrastructure of the railway network is mostly owned by the state and is regulated and surveyed by the Estonian Railway Inspectorate ....
– yes
-
See also
- History of rail transport in LatviaHistory of rail transport in LatviaThe history of rail transport in Latvia began with the construction in 1860 of a railway from Abrene to Dinaburg , 160 km in length, as part of the Saint Petersburg – Warsaw Railway....
- Rail transport in LatviaRail transport in LatviaRail transport in Latvia is done on Russian gauge. The main railway company is Latvijas dzelzceļš.Historically Latvia had lot of different rail gauges, most notably standard gauge and narrow gauge.- Rail links with adjacent countries :...
- Transport in Latvia