AS Eesti Liinirongid, operating as Elron, is a government-owned passenger train operator in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
.
The company was founded as a subsidiary of
Eesti Raudtee
Eesti Raudtee or EVR is the national railway infrastructure company of Estonia. It owns a network of of broad gauge () railway throughout the country, including the used by the Elron commuter trains around Tallinn. Its sole shareholder is th ...
in 1998, and separated shortly thereafter. Prior to 2014, the company operated exclusively the electrified
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...
system in
Harjumaa
Harju County ( et, Harju maakond or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in Northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the sout ...
, and was known until October 2013 as ''Elektriraudtee'', i.e. "the Electrical Railway". On 1 January 2014 Elron took over all domestic passenger train services in Estonia from
Edelaraudtee
Edelaraudtee (''Southwestern railway'') is an Estonian railway operator founded in 1997. AS Edelaraudtee operates freight services on lines from Tallinn to Rapla, Pärnu & Viljandi owned by Edelaraudtee Infrastruktuuri AS.
Until 2014, the com ...
.
Network
Inter-city rail
Elron operates inter-city trains from
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
's
Balti jaam
Baltic Station ( et, Balti jaam) is the main railway station in Tallinn, Estonia. All local commuter, long-distance and international trains depart from the station.
The station has seven platforms, of which two are situated apart from the res ...
on several lines: Tallinn–
Tartu–
Valga (connecting to
Pasažieru vilciens
Pasažieru vilciens ("Passenger train", abbreviated: PV) is the only passenger-carrying railway company in Latvia, operating both electric locomotive, electric and diesel trains on various lines throughout the country. It was formed in November 20 ...
trains to
Riga), Tallinn–Tartu–
Koidula, Tallinn–
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...
, and Tallinn–
Viljandi
Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu. ...
.
Services on the Tallinn–
Pärnu
Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet ...
route ended in December 2018. The line required substantial upgrading and it was not felt worthwhile spending the money required for this around 8 years before
Rail Baltica
Rail Baltica (also known as Rail Baltic in Estonia) is a high-speed railway under construction between Warsaw, Poland and Tallinn, Estonia, with further connections to Finland via Baltic Sea cruiseferries or the proposed Helsinki–Tallinn Tunn ...
is due to provide much faster service to
Pärnu
Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet ...
.
Tallinn commuter rail
![Train to Aegviidu at Balti jaam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Train_to_Aegviidu_at_Balti_jaam.jpg)
Tallinn's commuter rail network is
electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
, and it extends east and west from Balti jaam, the total length of the network being 132 km. The eastbound line goes to
Aegviidu. The westbound line goes to the town of
Keila
Keila (german: Kegel) is a town and an urban municipality in Harju County in north-western Estonia, 25 km southwest of Tallinn. Keila is also the location of administrative buildings of the surrounding Keila Parish, a rural municipality se ...
, where it divides into two branches continuing towards the cargo-harbour city of
Paldiski and inland to
Turba
Turba is a word used in Latin and Arabic languages. Its Latin meaning is uproar or crowd.
Turba is a word means high carbon containing soil which is a precursor of coal anthracite and even rare gems Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve
Latin ...
. The Paldiski branch splits at
Klooga, with a short spur going to the beach at
Klooga-rand
Kloogaranna is a village in Lääne-Harju Parish, Harju County, Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finl ...
.
Work to upgrade track and the stations took place in the early 2010s.
Rolling stock
![Stadler Flirt Keila jaamas1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Stadler_Flirt_Keila_jaamas1.jpg)
Elron currently uses 38
Stadler FLIRT electric and diesel-electric trains.
Delivery of the 12 three-car and 6 four-car
EMU
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...
and 6 two-car, 8 three-car and 6 four-car
DEMU
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
trains built by
Stadler Rail started in 2012; by June 2014 all trains had arrived in Estonia. As of 2015, all of the old Soviet trains were retired.
As of June 2019, Elron received permission to purchase 4 new
hybrid trains with an option to add 2 electric trains. The decision was due to overcrowding (as of 2019) on the most popular routes, given an increase of passenger number of more than a third since the replacement of the rolling stock with the Stadler fleet in 2014.
Elron announced in October 2020 that
Škoda Transportation
Škoda Transportation a.s. is a Czech engineering company that continues the legacy of Škoda Works' rolling stock manufacturing that started at the end of 19th century in Plzeň. Following the first world war, the Works commenced locomotive p ...
won the procurement for six new electric trains with an option to buy 10 more. Škoda will provide six dual system electric trains (
Škoda 21Ev, InterPanter), currently set to begin operating on the electrified Tallinn-Tartu route in December, 2024. The total sum of the six trains is €56.2 million, and the handover will be carried out in the second half of 2024. The trains are planned to have a number of replacable seats that can be moved to create more space for bicycles in warm months and for more seating in colder months.
The Škoda and Stadler trains will be in operation simultaneously beginning from 2024.
See also
*
Rail transport in Estonia
The rail transport system in Estonia consists of about 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 Technical Survei ...
*
GoRail
GoRail is a rail freight operator in Estonia, and also offers related training services. Until commencing offering freight services in 2019 it was a passenger service operator, and until 2020 it operated the only direct international passenge ...
, a company operating Tallinn–
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and Tallinn–
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
services
*
Helsinki commuter rail
Helsinki commuter rail ( fi, Helsingin seudun lähijunaliikenne, sv, Huvudstadsregionens närtrafik) is a commuter rail system serving Greater Helsinki and the surrounding county of Uusimaa. The system is a joint venture between the regional t ...
*
Pasažieru vilciens
Pasažieru vilciens ("Passenger train", abbreviated: PV) is the only passenger-carrying railway company in Latvia, operating both electric locomotive, electric and diesel trains on various lines throughout the country. It was formed in November 20 ...
, a company operating Valga–Riga services
*
Public transport in Tallinn
Public transport in Tallinn consists of bus, tram, trolleybus, train and ferry services. Bus, tram and trolleybus routes are mainly operated by Tallinna Linnatranspordi AS. Electric train services are offered by Elron and the ferry service t ...
*
Tallinn–Tapa railway
References
External links
*
{{coord, 59.364829, N, 24.633316, E, type:landmark_region:EE, display=title
Railway companies of Estonia
Companies based in Tallinn