Great trip, i traveled to Lithuania and Latvia by rail from my local station in the UK back in 2016. It will be great when Rail Baltica is complete, making this trip more attractive to everyone regarding time taken to get between Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. We traveled around visiting places along this route, lots of great memories.
Fingers crossed for Rail Baltica. Assuming that it will survive politicians, that it will be built correctly, that it will not exceed budget so much that it will not get built, that it's built well enough to take advantage of. and in all three countries. etc ;\ at least the finns are getting on board as well.
The polish don't like this connection. Lithuania has built the new railway-line from the border to Kaunas. In Poland are still the old tracks and no progress. Trains in normal european gauge could be operated to and from Kaunas to all parts of Europe via Poland daily, but no one does. Only at weekends a few trains with very bad or no train-correspondence in Białystok.
Super video. Thank you. Always had a soft spot for 2M62s. (only travelled behind one once) . Also, Love Vilnius, Love the idea of visiting Paldiski again. I'll see all you guys on the safe side of the COVID lockdown.
This connection should be operated daily with 3 or 4 trains in every direction! Between Riga and Vilnius can be an alternation via Daugavpils or Siauliai. But definetly necessary is a connection between the largest cities of the Baltics, operated by fast trains! From Kaunas is the new european track available since a few years, so why aren't there enough trains during the week connecting Poland with the Baltic area?
I did the trip: 1st day: flight Berlin - Tallinn, train Ülemiste (500 m from the airport) - Valga, overnight stay in Valga 2nd day: train Valga - Riga and Riga - Daugavpils, overnight stay in Daugavpils 3rd day: train Daugavpils - Vilnius, sightseeing in Vilnius and train Vilnius - Oro uostas (Airport), flight Vilnius - Berlin Beautiful winter landscapes, good and cold weather, trains and stations in excellent condition, easy purchase of train tickets via internet! After the pandemic I will do the rest: by train from Vilnius to Berlin.
Hello Tallink and all the Balts This film reminds me of my first (1994!) trip to Poland and the Baltic States. At that time, the Warsaw-Suwalki-Šeštokai-Riga connection had just opened - so new that I didn't know about it and was completely confused about driving through "wrong" areas. (The guide-book said the train was going through Belarus.) In Warsaw I had bought a cardboard ticket with the time, train number, car number and seat entered by hand, which made me suspicious. But everything worked fine. From Šeštokai I traveled in the old, then slightly refurbished Balti Ekspress: sleeping car; tea from the samovar always available ... (It seems that train would run till Tallinn - through all 3 baltic states; however I had to get off at Riga) The electric commuter trains in the Riga suburbs (I traveled to Jūrmala) weren‘t refurbished at that time. But they run regularly and on time. I had an appointment with a local host in Drusti - there was a train track going through this region that I can‘t find any more on actual maps. Being a Swiss, it seems to me the new Commuter and IC trains shown in Tallinn are made by Stadler - true? Would like to come in this region again - liked landscape and people. Last time was in 2001!
Such a nice memory, thanks for sharing :) ! Correct! Estonia has Stadler trains, which in the video I had first part of the trip, from Tallinn to Valga.
It would be possible to buy a ticket for the train Riga-Minsk 10:05 which stood on the right of the train Valga-Riga. The Riga-Minsk train also stops in Daugavpils, though it is very late at 10:52 pm, but you could spend the night in Daugavpils, and in the morning get up and take the train Daugavpils-Vilnius which leaves at 9 am and arrives at 11 am and no waiting 4 hours in Daugavpils.
There was a time when we had direct train connections between the capitals of all three Baltic states.. now, unfortunately, you can only travel on internal routes in each of them... Apparently, the accountants took over and said that having direct flights between Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn is not financially worthwhile... and everything else doesn't matter...😪
Beautiful landscape, you've got plenty of forests over there! And I love the old locomotives as seen at 9:32. Are these diesel locomotives relicts of the Soviet era? I think the former east German railways (DR) had exactly the same ones, coloured in dark red, delivered from the USSR. Unfortuntely, the modern trains - most of them railcars - all look the same in most European countries. They may be more comfortable and practical, but I miss the charme the old locomotives and trains had.
Yes, at the moment all trains in Latvia are from USSR era, and the train VALGA-RIGA and RIGA-DAUGAVPILS were diesel trains, but in 2023 Latvia will get their first new electric train from Skoda Vagonka, though I am not sure when we will get new diesel trains, but by the way, we have modernized diesel trains and they are as good as new would be
In the definition of "Northern Europe", the following countries are included: Estonia. Latvia. Lithuania. Denmark. Finland. Iceland. Norway. Sweden. Northern Europe - Wikipedia
Thank you!! We are traveling from Krakow to Tallinn on January 28th, stopping in Vilnius for a night, then onto Tallinn. Any advice? Changing trains? Hotels near the train stop? Thank you!!
I hope Tartu-Valga- Riga route will be developed in the future. At the moment all attention remains at Rail Baltic. For southern Estonia/northern Latvia, only sensible option is using a car due to poor public transport connection.
Very nice! Was just scrolling down your videos and saw this video, remembered that I liked it very much when you uploaded it. You probably didn't get my answer from yesterday. YT often does that. So I will copy-paste it here: " Thats fine🙃. Well, in last few months I worked hard to improve the quality of my work. Which meant time and money (still looking for the right camera) I film mostly with my phone, which can record in a better resolution than FullHD (I think, something like 3K). But it can always be edited later... What I can film for you is a plenty of videos in Germany (and other places I visit) like buses (Ingolstadt the most because I live there, Nürnberg and Munich), trams and metro (Nürnberg and Munich), and many train types in and around Ingolstadt (train rides included). Also the timelapsed bus rides, my phone has the same option. What I would be interested in, is stuff from the Baltic (trams, rides, buses, bus rides, trains)..... whatever you can film. I always send the videos over WeTransfer data hosting app. If you are interested, have some questions or anything, you can contact me per email which you can find in my channels description. It's safer because YT sometimes send comments in Spam. Hahah, I speak many languages, but not all fluent. I am learning Estonian and Hungarian last few months. Of course by myself. Nowadays you can find good apps for such things 😀. PS: Ma saadan teile kohe Horvaatiast videoid. Lihtsalt võtke seal puhkus. Mul on bussid Zagrebist, rongid Zagrebis ja varsti on mul ka bussid Zadaris ja paar laeva videot. Soovin teile kena nädalat!
Hi! I actually got your message, but I didn't have time to get around it. Right now I have to say that I´m not really interested. But thank you for the offer!
Hello there, could you please let me know how long does it take to travel from Vilnius to Kaunas by train? Im asking because I've got my uni in Karunas, so does it sound feasible to travel to Vilnuis 2-3 times a week for partime job? Thank youuu! :)
Valga- Riga stretch is way too slow and too many stops. 168 km and 3 hours 10 minutes ?! It makes average speed of 53 km / h . Tallinn- Valga stretch is 273 km and 3 hours 23 minutes , average speed 80 km /h . Not fast connection, but at least better than by bus or car
Still a weird fact that there's no competitive train connection between the three Baltic capitols, 30 years after the Baltic Way. What did you pay for the route and the different sections?
That's a good question. Valga is the station at the border. The services aren't international and so it's necessary to change the train. But some years ago the latvian passenger-trains stopped operating at Limbaži and didn't cross the border at all!
@@latulipenoire1549 Yes, there was a train from Rīga to Tallinn via Skulte, Limbaži, Rujiena, Ipiķi, Mõisaküla, Kilingi-Nõmme and Pärnu. But it was years ago. Traffic between Rīga and Tallinn through Limbaži was stopped in 1992 (line Rujiena-Ipiķi). Traffic between Tallinn and Mõisaküla was stopped in 2000. Traffic between Lelle and Pärnu was stopped in 2018. But if there is talk about Valga/Valka, then on the Latvian side of the border is Lugaži, not Limbaži. This is the railway line: Tallinn-Tapa-Tartu-Valga-Lugaži-Strenči-Valmiera-Sigulda-Rīga. Temporarily the Latvians stopped there train traffic some years ago on the section Valmiera-Valga.
Funnily enough, it's thanks to an Ukrainian train managed by UZ (Ukrainian Railways) running the Riga-Vilnius-Minsk-Kyiv route. It uses a different route though, instead of Daugavpils, it goes through Šiauliai. It's a charming but slow train, with Rail Baltica things will get better hopefully :)
Estonia in development miles ahead of Latvia n Lithuania. Having visited Tallinn in every decade since 1999, I saw their massive development in their infrastructure.
Thats all so cheap, try buying a train ticket in netherlands or UK. To go to my parents and back costs around 50 euro. Thats 1.5 hour ride each direction :p
@@adammehring7542 Riga - Daugavpils: www.pv.lv/en/train-schedule/ Daugavpils - Kaunas (via Vilnius): www.traukiniobilietas.lt/ (Daugavpils - Vilnius) Sat/Sun only
@@adammehring7542 Riga - Kaunas is actually not operated by direct trains. You can only take bus or roundabout way. But there is a new train, only operated each 4th day, between Riga and Kiev with stops in Lithuania in Siauliai, Vilnius and Kena.
In Latvia we have a joke that we will keep our trains till they become museum pieces, making everyone enjoy retro rides. :D But as I heard there is plans in process to to buy new ones, or they are already bought for some lines.
@@artursbondars7789 in 2023 i heard that we will recive our first trains from Skoda Vagonka, but I need to say that those old soviet trains have something in them that makes them special
saw your video ... I'm a bit confused ... the railway machinery is similar: both gondolas and tanks, and the RVR train, at least from the outside. Impresses cleanliness at train stations and platforms !!! We, the Ukrainians, just do not have enough - cleanliness and order ... Help, give advice, not just general phrases: "It all starts with you", because you "Soviets" did not devour, as us, you were just a territory, we the same stumbling block
Роман Гнатюк there are systems that can be put into place but it all starts with national pride. SELF PRESERVATION AND RESPECT! I wish you the best and much respect for you even mentioning it, PLEASE SAY IT LOUD AND SAY IT PROUD Clean up this MESS!
If you would've paid attention in the video, you would've seen that they took 4 trains from Tallinn to Vilnius. Tallinn - Valga Valga - Riga Riga - Daugavpils and Daugavpils - Vilnius. Unfortunanley the route from Daugavpils to Turmantas is closed due to COVID, so all trains on that line originate from Turmantas or Ignalina.
Смотрю, латыши не спешат переходить на швейцарские дизеля, пользуются своими, поддерживая отечественного производителя.. И не смотря на сложные отношения с РФ в кадре постоянно мелькают российские цистерны
"Сложные отношения" это только в головах политиков. У российского бизнеса нет никаких "сложных отношении" с Балтийскими странами. Все прекрасно работает и ненадо бояться что бизнес украдут чиновники или ФСБ как в России.
сложные отношения только у Путина со всеми, у бизнеса сложных отношений нет. Вы что, правда думаете, что это старье образца 50-х годов ездит для того, чтобы совковый завод поддержать? отечественный производитель уже давно ничего не производит, эти поезда ходят только потому, что денег нет на новые. Но вроде как наконец-то разыграли конкурс, будут испанские Talgo закупать.
So this is possible. Which is a very important information to me. I had believed the only way from Warsaw to Tallinn by rail was via the two Slavic states where you need a visa as a EU citizen. Now I kow this was wrong and there is a purely EU way. Let me fave this video as a practically important piece of information for myself.
Riga Central station looks just horrible.. I feel ashamed... and those old trains............ just horrible if we compare to Estonia and Lithuania........
I dont really know how Riga and Vilnius main stations look like in person, only been to Tallinns main station because I live in taliinn but the problem with tallies main station is that its a bit small and there is no international train lines going from Tallinn directly which is not great but its still beautiful and the trains are modern as well, the trains are a bit short tho but Estonias really don't need long trains because our population is only 1.3 million people. ( I dont know why I wrote this, I am just a 14 year old who has nothing else to do with my life. Sorry for bothering! )
The Estonian fleet has been completely replaced by Stadler Flirt EMU/DMU trains. The Latvian Fleet is still older but some DR1A's have been renovated. The Lithuanian trains have EJ575's as Vilnius - Kaunas / Trakai instead of ER9's, PESA 730, 630 trains to/from Klaipeda, and some Motorcycle PESA and DR1A trains for diesel, there are no old D1 Russian trains here.
