For more than a month, a train has been regularly running on the Tallinn - Tartu - Riga route. The service is provided by the Estonian state enterprise Elron. The route was officially opened at the beginning of the year and was eagerly awaited in both countries. TV3 Ziņas reported on what went wrong.
It turned out that the launch of the new route caused a "domino effect" in Estonia. Elron has little rolling stock, so one train had to be removed from the Valga - Tartu route to ensure this new service.
As a result, the morning train that has been taking residents of Valga and Otepää, small towns in southern Estonia, to work and appointments in Tartu for years now runs two and a half hours later: it used to arrive at 9 AM, and now it arrives at 11:30 AM.
"Many of us work in Tartu. Now we can't make it to work or to the doctor. Our lives have been turned upside down," said a resident of Valga County.
The financial aspect adds fuel to the fire: Estonia subsidizes the new international line by more than one million euros a year, while Latvia does not. Locals believe that Estonia is also paying extra for the decline in quality of life.
However, authorities promise to launch a bus from Valga to Tartu in March to make life easier for people.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that extensive rail repair work is planned for this section of the railway in the summer, meaning train services will be even more limited. After the repairs, the number of services from Valga is promised to increase in 2027 - there will be new trains as well.
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