The Estonians plan to test whether their trains can work with the new Latvian Railways radio links.
Latvia is currently undergoing a major reconstruction of its radio network and the Rīga-Valka railway section is being transferred to a new radio system. Estonians should be ready to use it, the article says.
The Estonians are planning their first test runs in Latvia with two and three-car trains in mid-August and their first passenger services in October.
The Estonian passenger rail operator Elron, Latvian Railway Technical Inspection, and the European Railway Board agreed there is no need to re-inspect rolling stock certified in Estonia in Latvia.
"Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania's infrastructure is very similar. If compliance has already been verified on the Estonian infrastructure, there is no need to re-verify compliance to operate on the Latvian infrastructure. This means that the workload for the certification of rolling stock is reduced," Märt Ehrenpreis, board member of Elron, was quoted.
Elron has not yet disclosed how much the journey from Riga to Tartu will cost but promises to do so soon.
A lot depends on the extent to which Latvian and European railway authorities and inspectorates require retests. There is a bit of uncertainty here," Ehrenpreis said.
Meanwhile, the Latvian side is committed to provide engine drivers.
