 |
Background
In 1870, the first railway in Estonia was opened between Paldiski - Tallinn - Narva - Gatchina,
connecting with the St. Petersburg - Warsaw railways. In 1931 the
Tartu-Petseri broad gauge railway was completed, linking the Estonian ports
with the interior of Russia and Ukraine. In 1992 the state-owned Eesti
Raudtee ("EVR") was established from the former Baltic Railways
administration of Soviet Railways. EVR owns and operates approximately
500 miles (693 km) of five-foot gauge railway. EVR handles an annual average
of 40 million tons of freight, with its major cargo being Russian petroleum
products moving in unit trains to the ice-free Estonian ports on the Baltic
Sea. Independent operators provide passenger service using EVR's infrastructure
under access agreements.
In 1997 EVR prepared for a reorganization and privatization plan to transfer
operations not connected with its main line of business. Thus, EVR
Ekspress was established to operate international passenger traffic
between Estonia and Russia;
Elektriraudtee operates Tallinn commuter trains on electrified
lines; and Edelaraudtee operates all other internal passenger traffic
with diesel trains and railroad freight on the Tallinn-Pärnu-Mõisaküla and
Lelle-Viljandi lines.
On August 31, 2001 Baltic Rail Services ("BRS") purchased a
controlling 66% interest in EVR. BRS investors included Rail
World Inc. (USA); Emerging Europe Infrastructure Fund
(UK); Ganiger Invest
OÜ (Estonian
entrepreneurs); RDC; and until 2003
Jarvis Estonia BV (UK). The Estonian
government held the remaining 34% interest in
EVR.
On January 9, 2007 EVR was re-nationalized when BRS completed the sale of its
66% interest back to the Estonian government, ending over five years of private
sector management.
Operating
Statistics
|
Statistics
as of December 31, 2006
|
Major Traffic Flows
|
|
Length
in Km.
|
Length
in Miles
|
Annual Tonnage
|
Locomotives
|
Wagons
|
Oil
Coal
Grain
Fertilizer
Containers
Timber
|
|
693
|
431
|
44.4 Million
|
101
|
3,318
|
|
|
