Poor Track Conditions Slowing Rail Travel
Edelaraudtee passenger trains, which could otherwise travel at speeds of 120 kph, are currently moving at a much slower pace - 80 kph - due to the poor state of the nation's tracks.
According to Päevaleht, in order to maintain even that speed on the Tallinn-Rapla line, which carries the largest number of passengers, the gravel supporting the tracks must be replaced. Delaying the maintenance work would mean slowing the trains to 60 kph.
In mid-October, Edelaraudtee board chairman Kalvi Pukka sent a proposal to Minister of Economic Affairs Juhan Parts requesting funds to fix up the tracks over the next two years.
Parts responded by suggesting that the work be postponed until this time next year when the ministry is expecting to receive 9.6 million euros of EU project funding for railway maintenance. Starting the repairs immediately would require taking a loan on which the state would have to pay interest, Parts said.
There is no time to spare, however, as the first of 20 previously-ordered diesel trains, each with a maximum speed at 160 kph, will arrive in Estonia in 2013.
Ingrid Teesalu