Lithuanian Railways ( lt, Lietuvos geležinkeliai), abbreviated LTG, is the national state-owned
railway company of
Lithuania. It operates most of the
railway network in the country.
During 2020, Lithuanian Railways transported 3.34 million passengers and 53.4 million tonnes of freight; the majority of freight conveyed comprised
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
products and
fertilizers.
History and structure
During 1991, ''Lietuvos Geležinkeliai'' was established to operate the newly-independent nation's railways. It provides numerous rail-related services, typically through its numerous subsidiary companies. While ''LTG Link'' is the provider for passenger services, while ''LTG Cargo'' is responsible for freight operations. Furthermore, another subsidiary, ''LTG Infra'' undertakes the maintenance and development of the railway infrastructure.
During October 2008, in response to the Polish oil company
PKN Orlen plans to reroute freight from its Lithuanian refinery at
Mažeikiai
Mažeikiai (; Samogitian: ''Mažeikē''; lv, Mažeiķi) is a city in northwestern Lithuania, on the Venta River. It has a population of around 43,547, making it the eighth largest city in Lithuania. The city is the administrative center of M ...
to the Latvian port of
Ventspils, the Lithuanian Railways unilaterally and intentionally dismantled the cross-border line to
Latvia to prevent this. In 2017, the
European Commission (EC) issued a €27.87 million fine to the Lithuanian Railways for breaching
European Union (EU) competition law by the track's removal. On 15 February 2020, the cross-border line was restored at a cost of €9.4m with the aim of restoring freight services.
In May 2017, Lithuanian Railways was one of several companies that facilitated the launch of a new international tank container train service between Europe and
China. During September of that same year, the first electrified cross-border trains were ran between Lithuania and
Belarus. On 29 May 2018, the railway companies of the three
Baltic states
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
signed an agreement to launch a new intermodal freight service called ''Amber Train'', linking
Tallinn and
Riga to the Lithuanian-Polish border at
Šeštokai
Šeštokai is a small town in southern Lithuania.
Infrastructure
The town is a transport hub as it hosts Šeštokai Intermodal Terminal and has dual gauge track as well as break-of-gauge for the 1435 mm standard gauge and 1520 mm broad gauge. ...
where they can be
transhipped
Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination.
One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...
to the standard gauge network. EU funding was used to support some of these initiatives. During the late 2010s, there was a noticeable uptick in the volume of freight traffic traversing the Lithuanian rail network, along with corresponding increases in revenue.
Between 2018 and 2019, the company's Freight Transport, Passenger Transport and Railway Infrastructure Directorates were reorganized into separate companies, comprising ''LG CARGO'', ''LG Keleiviams'', and ''Lietuvos geležinkelių infrastruktura''.
The holding company ''LTG Group'' was also established, it remained a state owned enterprise; any excess profits not reinvested into the organisation is paid out to the Lithuanian government.
A new group logo, mirroring the colours of the Lithuanian flag and symbolising movement, was also adopted at this time. During late 2020, the reorganisation was hailed for bolstering the competitiveness of Lithuania's railways and maintaining positive growth while also pursuing greater compliance with EU legislation.
One of the more high-profile infrastructure investments being made by LTF Infra in the wider
Rail Baltica
Rail Baltica (also known as Rail Baltic in Estonia) is a high-speed railway under construction between Warsaw, Poland and Tallinn, Estonia, with further connections to Finland via Baltic Sea cruiseferries or the proposed Helsinki–Tallinn Tunn ...
project, under which a
standard gauge high-speed railway will be constructed between the Polish capital of
Warsaw and the
Estonian capital of
Tallinn. The Lithuanian portion of the project involves a 392km line running north-south across the country as well as a new railway node being built in
Kaunas to interface with the conventional network.
Furthermore, during the late 2010s, a new strategy of widespread
railway electrification
A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply.
Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), ele ...
was announced; specifically, a target for 39% of the Lithuanian rail network being electrified by 2030 was declared, a substantial increase over the 8% that already energised by 2020.
Other areas of investment include track doubling, renovated communications, passenger information systems, energy efficiency schemes, routine maintenance, noise reduction, and track renewal programmes.
In 2021, investment into key projects was reportedly doubled to €228.9 million, the majority of which was directed to infrastructure-related efforts.
In May 2020, a pilot freight train between Germany and Lithuania was operated under a partnership between LTG Cargo and the German
intermodal specialist
CargoBeamer. During September of that year, it was announced that LTG Link and the Polish operator
PKP Intercity
PKP Intercity is a company of PKP Group responsible for long-distance passenger transport. It runs about 350 trains daily, connecting mainly large agglomerations and smaller towns in Poland. The company also provides most international trains t ...
had signed a
letter of intent to jointly develop a cross-border intercity passenger service between Vilnius and Warsaw. During March 2021, it was announced that the German specialist IVU Traffic Technologies would supply its digital resource planning and real-time traffic management software to the Lithuanian Railways. That same year, Lithuanian Railways issued multiple
tenders calling for the provision of additional electric traction, including hybrid solutions.
During April 2022, LTG Link launched a new ticketing website, displaying more detailed information about services, customer service channels, and travel planning tools; the launch was connected to the introduction of a new
smart ticket system that had been promised two years prior.
In October 2022, a contract was awarded to
ABB
ABB Ltd. is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create ...
to supply 25kV
AC electrification apparatus along the 730km line between
Vilnius and
Klaipeda.
See also
*
Rail transport in Lithuania
*
Rail Baltica
Rail Baltica (also known as Rail Baltic in Estonia) is a high-speed railway under construction between Warsaw, Poland and Tallinn, Estonia, with further connections to Finland via Baltic Sea cruiseferries or the proposed Helsinki–Tallinn Tunn ...
*
Transport in Lithuania
Transport in Lithuania relies mainly on road and rail networks.
Lithuanian road system
(2018):
''total:''
''paved:''
''unpaved:''
Highways
Controlled-access highways sections
There are two categories of controlled-access highways in Li ...
*
Vilnius Metro
*
Vilnius Intermodal Terminal
*
Kaunas Intermodal Terminal
* ''
''
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Railway companies of Lithuania
Government-owned companies of Lithuania
1860 establishments in the Russian Empire
Companies based in Vilnius
Railway companies established in 1860