Latvian Railways

Railway history of Latvia until 1991

On September 12, 1861, the first independent railway line in the territory of Latvia, which connected Riga with Daugavpils, was handed over for general use. On 15 December 1862, the construction of the railway between St. Petersburg and Warsaw was completed, creating the first railway junction in Latvian territory, in the state city (Latvian: valstspilsēta, "state city") of Daugavpils. By 1880, 800 kilometres (500 mi) of rail-lines had been built in Latvia.

In the period up to 1900, in parallel with the construction of new state-funded railways, the previously built private railways were bought out and concentrated within state-run structures. At this point the Riga-Oryol Railway Administration became the largest railway operator in the territory of Latvia, with 500 kilometres (310 mi) of railway lines transferred to its management. The other railways were supervised by the Russian Northwestern Railway and the Liepāja – Romna Railway administrations. In 1904, the 1,094-kilometre-long (680 mi) Moscow–Ventspils Railroad was put into operation, extending approximately 165 kilometres (103 mi) past Riga to the port of Ventspils, with a significant part of the new line – between Zilupe and Ventspils, a length of 456 kilometres (283 mi) – being located in the territory of Latvia. Consequently, all major Latvian ports were connected with major inland processors and markets by railway lines, and remain so today. At the beginning of the 20th century, large-scale reconstruction works of the Riga railway junction began. New railway stations and connecting lines were built, and a new bridge over the Daugava River at Riga was constructed (see Riga Railway Bridge). However, the reconstruction of the Riga passenger station was not completed due to the beginning of the First World War.

World War I and the Latvian War of Independence caused significant damage to railway infrastructure, but the total length of railway lines in the four years of the war increased from 1,941 to 2,763 kilometres (1,206 to 1,717 mi), mainly due to construction of narrow-gauge railways for military use.

After the Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia, with the establishment of the Latvian Railways High Board (Latvian: Dzelzceļu virsvalde) on 5 August 1919 the Latvian state took over the management of almost all railways located in the territory of Latvia. Narrow gauge railway lines remained in private hands, only one of which continued to be operated by a private legal entity. Since 5 August 1919, the board then operated the state-owned Latvijas dzelzceļi ('Latvijas valsts dzelzceļi', Latvian State Railways) company. It only took a few years to completely rebuild the railway infrastructure in Latvia. The Nord Express international train line was introduced to Riga in 1923, and provided a connection to Berlin and Paris, with a separate Riga–Moscow detour available. In 1925, the construction of new railways was started, stations and trains were modernized, and the Riga passenger station was provided with an electrical interlocking device for switches and signals – the first train safety device of this type in the Baltic States. By 1940, 840-kilometre (520 mi) of new railway lines were built, more than 200 iron bridges were constructed, as well as 130 new station buildings, while infrastructure destroyed during the WWI had been completely restored. After the Soviet occupation of Latvia, the occupation authorities dissolved the Railways High Board on 1 September 1940.

During the Second World War, the Latvian railway network was again severely damaged: most railway bridges and many station buildings were destroyed, and irreversible damage was caused to the tracks, as well as to the communications and signaling facilities.

After the Soviet re-occupation of the Baltic states, in the period until 1950, the railway industry was revived in key areas and a period of development began, which included electrification of railways on suburban passenger routes, construction of new bridges, transition to diesel cargo trains and long-distance passenger transport, improvement of rolling stock safety, etc. Along with the development of Ventspils Port and the USSR's industrialization policy in general from the 1960s to the 1980s, the volume of cargo transportation grew rapidly in the coming years. Electric and diesel trains manufactured in Riga by RVR ran on all suburban and local traffic routes, serving more and more passengers. Since 1963, the railways of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and the Kaliningrad region were supervised by the Soviet Baltic Railway Administration (Pribaltiyskaya railway), whose top management was located in Riga.

History of Latvijas dzelzceļš Group (1991–present)

After the restoration of Latvian independence in 1991, on 1 January 1992 the supervision and operation of all public railways in the territory of Latvia was transferred to the state enterprise (v/u) Latvijas dzelzceļš. At this moment, the restored Latvian state-owned company has at its disposal 2,364 kilometres (1,469 mi) of railway lines and 23,000 employees.

In 1993, the state enterprise Latvijas dzelzceļš was reformed into the state-owned joint-stock company (VAS) Latvijas dzelzceļš, whose shares are fully owned by the Latvian state.

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.

Other services

There is a narrow gauge railway between Gulbene and Alūksne, operated by the company SIA "Gulbenes – Alūksnes bānītis" under government contract, using Russian and Polish built heritage rolling stock. Three narrow gauge trains a day operate on the 33 kilometres (21 mi) route between the two towns. As of 2019, the service has been extended to two daily trains in both directions.