New Tallinn–Tartu–Riga service drives up Elron's Baltic ridership
Elron carried more than 19,000 passengers on its Baltic international routes in the first half of 2026, with the new direct Tallinn–Tartu–Riga link contributing a significant share.
Estonian rail operator Elron has reported a surge in international travel after launching a direct Tallinn–Tartu–Riga service in January. More than 19,000 passengers used its Baltic routes in the first six months of 2026, exceeding the 16,000 direct tickets sold across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in all of last year.
Monthly passenger numbers grew steadily, from around 2,000 in January to nearly 4,400 in June. Kristo Mäe, head of Elron's international business, said that passenger interest in traveling by train to Latvia and Lithuania has grown significantly.
Tartu was the most popular origin or destination, with 10,825 passengers, followed by Tallinn with 6,347. The Tartu–Riga segment was the busiest, carrying 7,500 passengers — 38 percent of all international passengers on Elron's network.
The direct Tallinn–Tartu–Riga train, launched on January 12, generated 8,287 international trips. Its most popular sections were Tartu–Riga (42%), Tallinn–Riga (13%), Valga–Riga (9%), Tartu–Cesis (nearly 6%), Tartu–Valmiera (over 5%) and Tartu–Sigulda (4.5%).
Elron also operates the Tallinn–Tartu–Valga–Riga–Vilnius route, which requires a transfer at Valga, plus an additional weekend service between Tallinn, Tartu, Valga and Riga. Interest has also grown in the Tallinn–Tartu–Riga–Vilnius service launched in January 2025.
Since March, the operator has sold tickets for domestic Latvian travel on the Tallinn–Tartu–Riga train. Between April and June, more than 1,700 Latvian passengers used it for internal journeys, most commonly Riga–Cesis (30%), Riga–Sigulda (26%) and Riga–Valmiera (14.8%).
Data from Elron and Latvian operator Vivi show more than 10,000 passengers traveled to or from Valga on routes toward Latvia and Lithuania in the first half of the year.
