GoRail

GoRail Tallinn-Moscow route
Legend Tallinn E67/4 E263/2 Pirita River Jägala River Tapa Valgejõgi Rakvere Jõhvi Narva Narva River, ET/RU border Ivangorod Kingisepp E95/M20 E105/M10 Bologoye Tver E105/M10 Ivankovo Reservoir Greater Moscow Ring Railway E105/M10 Moscow Canal Moscow Ring Road Moscow Little Ring Railway Moscow

GoRail Tallinn-St. Petersburg route
Legend Tallinn E67/4 E263/2 Pirita River Jägala River Tapa Valgejõgi Rakvere Jõhvi Narva Narva River, ET/RU border Ivangorod Kingisepp Saint Petersburg Ring Road St. Petersburg

GoRail is a passenger rail operator in Estonia operating services to Russia. GoRail operates the only direct international rail services from Estonia (however it is possible to travel to Riga in Latvia by changing from Elron services to Valga onto Pasažieru vilciens services).^[1]

History

The company previously operated under the name EVR Ekspress as a division of the state railway, Eesti Raudtee. It was partially privatised on 1 April 1999, with a 51% majority share going to the Fraser Group and 49% retained by Eesti Raudtee.^[2] The company was renamed GoRail in 2006 when it was sold to the Go Group, which operates various other travel services in Estonia, including Tallinn's main Baltic Station.

Tallinn - Moscow rail service

GoRail runs daily overnight trains from Baltic station in Tallinn to Leningradsky station in Moscow, Russia, in partnership with the Russian Railways (RZD). The trains have two- or four-bed cabins as well as seating compartments.^[3]

Tallinn - St. Petersburg rail service

GoRail also run a daily daytime service from Tallinn Baltic station to St Petersburg, leaving Tallinn early in the morning and arriving in St Petersburg mid-afternoon, with a return service leaving in the early evening and arriving in Tallinn in the late evening.

The current St Petersburg service started on an experimental basis on 27 May 2012,^[4] having previously not run since 2008. The route has previously been cancelled and re-introduced a number of times. It did not operate between 2004 and 2007, restarting on 31 March 2007.^[5]

On 8 May 2007 Russian Railways announced that the route would be cancelled with effect from 29 May ^[6]) ostensibly due to low passenger numbers, but shortly after the Bronze Night protests in Tallinn. GO Rail CEO Alar Pinsel described the Russian reasoning as "difficult to believe".^[7] The cancellation was retracted a day later,^[8] and the train service was never actually interrupted.

GoRail announced the cancellation of the service in July 2008, citing high infrastructure and fuel costs as the reasons why it has decided to close the service.^[9]

See also

• Rail transport in Estonia
• Oktyabrskaya Railway

References

1. http://www.edel.ee/soiduplaanid/2/readmore/654/
2. "AS GoRail (Estonia)", Jane's World Railways. Retrieved: 29 May 2008.
3. "Railway Operators in Estonia : GoRail", railfaneurope.net Retrieved: 29 May 2008.
4. http://www.gorail.ee
5. "Tallinn-St. Petersburg line open again on 31st March", Eesti Päevalehel newspaper, 22 March 2007. Retrieved: 29 May 2008. (Estonian)
6. "Russian Railways to end Tallinn-St. Petersburg service", Latvian Railways documentation centre, 8 May 2007. Retrieved: 29 May 2008.
7. "New Petersburg-Tallinn Train Link Cancelled", St. Petersburg Times, 11 May 2007. - Retrieved: 29 May 2008.
8. "RZD denies claim of St Petersburg-Tallinn rail service closure", balticbusinessnews.com, 9 May 2007. Retrieved: 29 May 2008.
9. International passenger rail operator struggles to survive

External links

• GoRail website www.gorail.ee
  • GoRail timetable (Estonian)
• Go Group corporate site www.gogroup.ee
• GoRail locomotives www.railfaneurope.net
• St. Petersburg Times tourism feature on Tallinn, mentioning GoRail

Coordinates: 59°26′24″N 24°44′14″E / 59.44°N 24.737279°E