As the Vilnius-Riga train started stopping at two more stations - Jonava and Kėdainiai - from last Monday, the mayor of the latter city hopes that residents will use this route. At that time, the mayor of Radviliškis would like the train connecting the capitals of Lithuania and Latvia to stop in this city in the future.
Kėdainiai district mayor Valentinas Tamulis said that the Vilnius-Riga train will also be tested by the politicians of this city on Saturday.
"You want to pass by yourself and then do everything with publicity: go, people of Kėdainiai, because if you don't go, then from January 2025, 1, we won't have the opportunity to go from Kėdainiai to Riga," V. Tamulis told BNS.
Additional stations on this route are currently a pilot project and will last until the end of the year.
Residents and local politicians previously raised the question of why the Vilnius-Riga train did not stop in Kėdainiai or Jonava earlier in the regional press and social networks, and appealed to the authorities.
"The route was launched, it went through Kėdainiai and did not stop in Kėdainiai. And no one even asked us if we wanted it or not. When we talk about regional politics, (...) it was our position and the position of the population that everything was not very good here. That's why those marches were made, letters were written both to the Ministry of Transport and "Lithuanian Railways", said V. Tamulis.
Radviliškis would also like to stop
The mayor of Radviliškis, Kazimieras Račkauskis, says that the Vilnius-Riga train should also stop in the city known as the "railway capital" - it is so called because of one of the largest railway junctions in the country.
"Communication would be much more convenient and residents of our district could visit Riga. Maybe those people who used to travel in cars would switch to trains. It's both greening and cleanliness - those things add up," K. Račkauskis told BNS.
"I had to communicate with both the minister and the deputy minister (contact - BNS) on this issue. I don't know why the wishes of other districts were taken into account, but not ours", said the mayor of Radviliškis.
According to K. Račkauskis, traveling by train to Riga from Šiauliai, which is twenty kilometers away, is not convenient for the people of Radvili.
"If a person decides to go to Riga and he first needs to go to Šiauliai by bus, then from one of the station to the next one, he will probably choose other alternatives", said K. Račkauskis.
The daily train journey between Vilnius and Riga takes just over 4 hours. So far, they have taken part in Kaišiadorys, Šiauliai, Joniškis and the Latvian city of Jelgava.
"I once made a joke to the mayor of Kaišiadorii district - do you know why the train stops in Kaišiadorii and Joniškis?" Because you are liberal mayors (representatives of the Liberal Movement - BNS)", joked Kėdainiai Mayor V. Tamulis.
From Kėdainiai and Jonava - 11 percent. passengers
Passenger transport companiesLTG Linkrepresentative Olga Malaškevičienė told BNS that from Monday to Thursday, 56 passengers from Jonava and 41 from Kėdainiai traveled on the Vilnius-Riga train - they accounted for about 11 percent. train passengers.
"So far, a little more passengers board in Jonava, but the difference is very slight and may change, which we can see in further advance ticket sales," O. Malaškevičienė told BNS.
According to her, ticket sales from Kėdainiai and Jonava or to these cities make up 9 percent. of all ticket sales for the Vilnius–Riga route.
According to the representative of LTG Link, additional train stops, including in Radviliškis, will be decided after the trial with Jonava and Kėdainiai stations is over.
"The inclusion of additional stops - Jonava and Kėdainiai - is a pilot project - the aim is to monitor how many passengers choose local and international routes, which will enable an objective assessment of the effectiveness and need for additional stops. Taking into account the obtained statistical results, it will be possible to model future schedules and new routes in the future", said O. Malaškevičienė.
According to LTG Link, the additional stops in Kėdainiai and Jonava did not lengthen the journey between the capitals of Lithuania and Latvia - the train runs faster after the reconstruction of the railway section Gaižiūnai-Kaišiadorys.
Author Giedrius Gaidamavičius
