Operail sells more assets, ‘nothing to do with Russian business’
After selling its Finnish subsidiary to Nurminen Logistics, Estonian state-owned freight operator Operail proceeded to more asset releases. The company sold 807 wagons that previously belonged to its wagon leasing subsidiary, Operail Leasing. The sale...Read more
Latvia and Lithuania pledge for collective effort on Russian rail ban
The ministers of transport from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania met for the first time in four years to discuss the ban on the transit of Russian and Belarussian goods on 23 January. Estonia, via its...Read more
Estonian Operail sells Finnish business to Nurminen Logistics
The Estonian state-owned company Operail sold its Finnish subsidiary, Operail Finland, to Nurminen Logistics. The company, active in Finland since 2020, decided to proceed with the sale in 2021 in a move unrelated to Russia...Read more
Operail stops transport of Russian and Belarusian goods on 1 January
UPDATEThe Estonian state-owned rail freight company Operail will stop transporting cargo originating from Russia or Belarus per 1 January 2023. It made this decision earlier, in May this year, but a transition period was needed...Read moreEU sanctions on Russia impact Estonia: ‘rail might disappear’
Operail, the Estonian state-owned international transport and logistics company, has halved its freight volumes in the first nine months of 2022. In addition, the decrease in freight volumes has led to the layoff of over...Read more
Amber Train is back on track, this time with new potential
The Amber Train is back on track. On Tuesday 13 September, a train loaded with timber, peat and construction foam left the Estonian port of Muuga. On Wednesday morning, it arrived in Kaunas Multimodal Terminal...Read more
European gauge in Estonia: a long, expensive, and complicated project
Switching to the European standard gauge would cost Estonia around 8,7 billion euros, said Estonian Railways CEO Kaido Zimmerman in a letter to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. 7,5 billion euros would be...Read more
Sanctions hit core operations of Estonian Railways
Estonian national rail operator Eesti Raudtee claims it lost over 20 million euros in 2022, mostly due to the sanctions that the EU applied on Russia and Belarus. The Estonian government is ready to mitigate...Read more
Estonian Operail asks for lower coal rates to boost freight volumes
In June, Estonian freight operator Operail asked Estonian Railways for cheaper rates for coal from Kazakhstan. The request, accepted by EVR, is to halve the current fee, from 2,2 euros per ton to 1,1 euros.Read moreEstonian Operail involved in war logistics? ‘These are just assumptions’
State-owned Estonian company Operail has been the focal point of discussions lately. Operail is accused of continuing business with Russia despite the war and the imposed sanctions because of leasing wagons used in the war...Read more
Estonian Railways in need of extra state financial injection
State-owned Estonian Railways (EVR) will need state funding to cover the losses from stopping the transit of Russian cargo. Despite last year’s growth in transported volumes, the company needs to cover 10 million euros of...Read more
Will the ride on Rail Baltica smooth out after a long bumpy run-in?
The much-lauded high-speed European-gauge Rail Baltica (RB) project has hit several snags and will not meet its original planned deadline of 2026. Hesitancy to the project, as well as the adversity of COVID-19 and rising...Read more
Finland and Estonia signed MoU including Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel
Finland and Estonia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday 26 April 2021 for more cooperation. This will promote projects such as Rail Baltica, the Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel, Trans-European Transport Networks, and the North Sea–Baltic Sea...Read more
Operail started converting its first LNG freight locomotive
Operail, an international railway logistics company from Estonia, has started conversion for its first LNG freight locomotive last week. The project was delayed due to Covid, and with the new schedule, the LNG locomotive should...Read more
Estonian rail freight operator steps up in Finland
Estonian national rail freight operator Operail has certified its first two locomotives for operations in Finland. The company will start transporting freight this autumn. By this time, it will operate a fleet of nine new...Read moreNew player on Finnish rail freight market
Estonian national rail freight operator Operail announced its international expansion plan. To realise this goal, the company has established a subsidiary in Finland and considers investments to purchase rolling stock. The neighbouring country will become...Read more
Lithuanian Railways transforms freight division into LG Cargo
Lithuanian Railways (Lietuvos geležinkeliai) has established a separate company for its freight business. The new entity is called LG Cargo and is the largest rail freight operator in the Baltics. Lithuanian Railways will remain in...Read more
Most freight trains on Rail Baltica will be intermodal
The Rail Baltica line that is to connect Poland with Estonia by European gauge railway in 2026 will be a great stimulus for intermodal transport in the Baltic region. 80 per cent of freight trains...Read moreEstonia expands domestic container train service
Estonian rail freight operator Operail (former EVR Cargo) has launched a container train between Tartu and Sillamäe in order to reduce truck traffic on the country’s highways. The new service is the second domestic rail...Read more