Tallinn-Moscow train route to be temporarily closed

Photo: Toomas Huik

Since the Russian Railways subsidiary Federalnaya Passazhirskaya Kompaniya (FPK) has not yet made the decision about taking over the Tallinn-Moscow passenger operation and current operator Gorail will stop operating the route on Monday, the route must be temporarily closed, Estonian Railways said.

«We don't have additional information about the Moscow route yet. We have made a proposal to the Russian Railways subsidiary FPK to take over the operation and I know that they are working with a view to taking over operating the route. As far as I know they haven't got the details in place yet that have to do with the new timetable and other things,» Estonian Railways CEO Ahti Asmann told BNS.

«The final answer as regards whether or not they will take over, we do not have it yet,» Asmann said.

The Estonian Railways CEO said one has to reckon that there will be a small pause in the operation of the Tallinn-Moscow route. «For how many days it will be, we do not know. We will get to know it when we receive formal notice of the date they will start operating, but right now I cannot say when the route will be reopened,» Asmann said.

«I know that they are seriously working on it. It just remains to be hoped that it is of interest for FPK to operate this route and they will find that possibility,» Asmann said.

The last departures by the current operator, Gorail, will be from Tallinn to Moscow at 7:10 p.m. on May 17 and from Moscow to Tallinn at 6:05 p.m. on May 18, with arrival in Tallinn at 10:46 a.m. on May 19.

Gorail has been pondering closing the Moscow and St. Petersburg routes since last November. Last year operating the routes caused it a loss of 2 million euros according to unaudited figures.

The manager of Gorail, Alar Pinsel, said the company hopes that negotiations between Estonian Railways and Russian Railways on further operation of the Tallinn-Moscow route are successful and the historic train connection between the capitals of the two neighboring countries will be preserved. He said it is not possible for a company whose business is based on own equity alone to continue operating the route for economic reasons.

Gorail has carried altogether 2.5 million passengers since 1998.