Higher speeds will be tried out on straight sections of the railway, between the stations of Liiva and Kiisa, Türi and Võhma, and Võhma and Viljandi, Edelaraudtee announced on Monday. As a safety measure, Edelaraudtee will post safety patrols at level crossings throughout the tests, the company says.

"The main purpose of the test is to obtain truthful information about how a train going at a higher speed behaves on the Edelaraudtee infrastructure, in order for it to be as safe as possible for passengers, and to find out about the effect on the timetables in the future," Edelaraudtee board member Rain Kaarjas said in a press release. 

He added that the findings will be an important input to be taken into consideration in capital overhauls on the railway in the future.

Edelaraudtee AS is a railway infrastructure company which manages a little over 220 kilometers of railways, 11 railway stations and 20 passenger platforms, outside of railway stations themselves. Railtrack responsibility lies with Eesti Raudtee. 

As Estonia has to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent by 2030 as a requirement of the EU's climate goals, an extensive railway electrification project is in the works. Among other developments, the state-owned Eesti Raudtee plans to raise the maximum speed of trains on Estonian routes.

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