"We are extremely glad that the first quarter was so positive on the infrastructure of EVR," CEO Erik Laidvee said in a press release. "We are actively marketing Estonia as a transit channel with our customers and cooperation partners as well as looking for new potential commodity flows, and I'm glad to see this joint effort bearing fruit."

Transit shipments made up 2.5 million tons during the quarter, nearly 18 percent more than during the same period last year. Container shipments, meanwhile, grew by 27 percent on year. The biggest commodity group transported on EVR infrastructure was fertilizers, mineral fuels and oil shale.

Around 1.9 million passengers were carried on company infrastructure in the first quarter, which is 9.1 percent more than in the same period last year. International trains carried 26,600 people, 13.2 percent more than in the first quarter of 2017.

In 2017, 12.4 million tons of freight was transported on the infrastructure of the railway company, one percent less than in 2016. The number of passengers carried, meanwhile, increased 7.4 percent to 7.4 million people.

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EVR is registered in Estonia as AS Eesti Raudtee.