Passenger Rail Service to Be Extended to Border in SE
Trains will go from Tartu all the way to the Russian border for the first time in years, following an aboutface by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
An additional 15 kilometers from the current end of the line at Orava will be opened in September to allow passengers to get to the Koidula station at the Estonian-Russian border.
Operator Edelaraudtee and the Economics Ministry had said as recently as two weeks ago that the stretch would not be ready until 2012, but additional funds have now been found. The ministry cited accrued savings on railway infrastructure fees as source of the extra funding
Koidula is also a transfer point for the Võru-Valga rail line, which does not currently serve passengers. But next year at least a few stations on this line will have passenger service, according to Indrek Laineveer of the ministry's railways department.
Kristopher Rikken