AS Eesti Liinirongid, operating as Elron, is a government-owned passenger train operator in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. The company was founded as a subsidiary of

Eesti Raudtee Eesti Raudtee or EVR is the national railway infrastructure company of Estonia. It owns a network of of broad gauge () railway throughout the country, including the used by the Elron commuter trains around Tallinn. Its sole shareholder is th ...

in 1998, and separated shortly thereafter. Prior to 2014, the company operated exclusively the electrified

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...

system in

Harjumaa Harju County ( et, Harju maakond or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in Northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the sout ...

, and was known until October 2013 as ''Elektriraudtee'', i.e. "the Electrical Railway". On 1 January 2014 Elron took over all domestic passenger train services in Estonia from

Edelaraudtee Edelaraudtee (''Southwestern railway'') is an Estonian railway operator founded in 1997. AS Edelaraudtee operates freight services on lines from Tallinn to Rapla, Pärnu & Viljandi owned by Edelaraudtee Infrastruktuuri AS. Until 2014, the com ...

Network

Inter-city rail

Elron operates inter-city trains from

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

Balti jaam Baltic Station ( et, Balti jaam) is the main railway station in Tallinn, Estonia. All local commuter, long-distance and international trains depart from the station. The station has seven platforms, of which two are situated apart from the res ...

on several lines: Tallinn– Tartu– Valga (connecting to

Pasažieru vilciens Pasažieru vilciens ("Passenger train", abbreviated: PV) is the only passenger-carrying railway company in Latvia, operating both electric locomotive, electric and diesel trains on various lines throughout the country. It was formed in November 20 ...

trains to Riga), Tallinn–Tartu– Koidula, Tallinn–

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...

, and Tallinn–

Viljandi Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu. ...

. Services on the Tallinn–

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet ...

route ended in December 2018. The line required substantial upgrading and it was not felt worthwhile spending the money required for this around 8 years before

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 ...

is due to provide much faster service to

Tallinn commuter rail

Tallinn's commuter rail network is

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

, and it extends east and west from Balti jaam, the total length of the network being 132 km. The eastbound line goes to Aegviidu. The westbound line goes to the town of

Keila Keila (german: Kegel) is a town and an urban municipality in Harju County in north-western Estonia, 25 km southwest of Tallinn. Keila is also the location of administrative buildings of the surrounding Keila Parish, a rural municipality se ...

, where it divides into two branches continuing towards the cargo-harbour city of Paldiski and inland to

Turba Turba is a word used in Latin and Arabic languages. Its Latin meaning is uproar or crowd. Turba is a word means high carbon containing soil which is a precursor of coal anthracite and even rare gems Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve Latin ...

. The Paldiski branch splits at Klooga, with a short spur going to the beach at

Klooga-rand Kloogaranna is a village in Lääne-Harju Parish, Harju County, Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finl ...

. Work to upgrade track and the stations took place in the early 2010s.

Rolling stock

Elron currently uses 38 Stadler FLIRT electric and diesel-electric trains. Delivery of the 12 three-car and 6 four-car

EMU The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...

and 6 two-car, 8 three-car and 6 four-car

DEMU A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

trains built by Stadler Rail started in 2012; by June 2014 all trains had arrived in Estonia. As of 2015, all of the old Soviet trains were retired. As of June 2019, Elron received permission to purchase 4 new hybrid trains with an option to add 2 electric trains. The decision was due to overcrowding (as of 2019) on the most popular routes, given an increase of passenger number of more than a third since the replacement of the rolling stock with the Stadler fleet in 2014. Elron announced in October 2020 that

Škoda Transportation Škoda Transportation a.s. is a Czech engineering company that continues the legacy of Škoda Works' rolling stock manufacturing that started at the end of 19th century in Plzeň. Following the first world war, the Works commenced locomotive p ...

won the procurement for six new electric trains with an option to buy 10 more. Škoda will provide six dual system electric trains ( Škoda 21Ev, InterPanter), currently set to begin operating on the electrified Tallinn-Tartu route in December, 2024. The total sum of the six trains is €56.2 million, and the handover will be carried out in the second half of 2024. The trains are planned to have a number of replacable seats that can be moved to create more space for bicycles in warm months and for more seating in colder months. The Škoda and Stadler trains will be in operation simultaneously beginning from 2024.

References

External links