Elron (rail transit)

AS Eesti Liinirongid, operating as Elron, is a government-owned passenger train operator in Estonia.

AS Eesti Liinirongid

Elron Stadler Flirt at Keila station
Trade name	Elron
Company type	Government-owned corporation
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	1998 (as Elektriraudtee) October 2013 (as Elron)
Headquarters	Tallinn , Estonia
Products	Rail transport
Website	www.elron.ee

v t e AS Eesti Liinirongid
Legend
Inter-city rail
Tallinn–Tartu–Valga line Tallinn Kitseküla Ülemiste Vesse Lagedi Kulli Aruküla Raasiku Kehra Lahinguvälja Mustjõe Aegviidu Nelijärve Jäneda Lehtse Tapa Tallinn–Narva line Tamsalu Kiltsi Rakke Vägeva Pedja Jõgeva Kaarepere Tabivere Kärkna Emajõgi Tartu E264 / T3 Tallinn–Tartu–Koidula line Aardla E263 / T2 Ropka Nõo Tõravere Peedu Elva Palupera Puka Mägiste Keeni Sangaste Valga Estonia Latvia border Riga–Lugaži Railway
Tallinn–Tartu–Koidula line Tallinn Kitseküla Ülemiste Vesse Lagedi Kulli Aruküla Raasiku Kehra Lahinguvälja Mustjõe Aegviidu Nelijärve Jäneda Lehtse Tapa Tallinn–Narva line Tamsalu Kiltsi Rakke Vägeva Pedja Jõgeva Kaarepere Tabivere Kärkna Emajõgi Tartu E264 / T3 Tallinn–Tartu–Valga line Kirsi Aardla street 22131 Ülenurme Uhti Porijõgi Reola Vana-Kuuste 22141 Rebase 18141 Vastse-Kuuste 18180 Valgemetsa 18161 Ahja River 18138 Kiidjärve Taevaskoja 18146 Orajõgi T62 Põlva 18158 Holvandi 18225 Ruusa Võhandu River T65 Veriora Ilumetsa T90 Orava 18243 Piusa 18243 18229 Koidula Piusa River Estonia Russia border Freight line to Pechory
Tallinn–Narva line Tallinn Kitseküla Ülemiste Vesse Lagedi Kulli Aruküla Raasiku Kehra Lahinguvälja Mustjõe Aegviidu Nelijärve Jäneda Lehtse Tapa T24 Tallinn–Tartu– Valga/Koidula line Valgejõgi 17144 T5 Loobu River Kadrina T5 Rakvere T5 Sõmeru River 17119 Kunda River Kabala 17119 13127 Sonda Jaama street Kiviõli 13103 Purtse River Püssi Kohtla 13126 Viivikonna–Kohtla-Järve freight line T93 Jõhvi E264 / T3 T32 Pühajõgi 13138 Oru Freight line to Port of Sillamäe Freight line to Viivikonna 13106 Vaivara Freight line to Eesti Power Plant Auvere 13145 Soldina 13148 Freight line to Balti Power Plant 13109 Narva Narva River Estonia Russia border Oktyabrskaya Railway
Tallinn–Viljandi line Tallinn E67 Tallinn-Väike Liiva Valdeku Männiku Saku Kasemetsa Kiisa Roobuka Vilivere Kohila Lohu Hagudi Rapla Keava Lelle Käru Kolu Türi Taikse Kärevere Ollepa Võhma Olustvere Sürgavere Viljandi
Tallinn commuter rail
Tallinn–Aegviidu line Tallinn Kitseküla Ülemiste Vesse Lagedi Pirita River Kulli Aruküla Jõelähtme River Raasiku Parila Kehra Jägala River Aavoja–Jägala canal Lahinguvälja Mustjõe Mustjõgi Aegviidu
Tallinn–Turba/Paldiski line Tallinn Lilleküla Tondi Järve Rahumäe Nõmme Hiiu Kivimäe Pääsküla Laagri Pääsküla River Urda Padula Vääna River Saue Valingu Keila River Keila Niitvälja Klooga Klooga-rand Klooga-Aedlinn Põllküla Laoküla Paldiski Kulna Vasalemma Vasalemma River Kibuna Laitse Jaanika Riisipere Turba Ellamaa Metsa Risti Vaharu Palivere Nigula Taebla Ridala Uuemõisa Haapsalu Rohuküla

Prior to 2014, the company operated exclusively the electrified commuter rail system in Harjumaa, and was known until October 2013 as Elektriraudtee, i.e. "the Electrical Railway". On 1 January 2014, Elron took over all domestic passenger train services in Estonia from Edelaraudtee.

History

The company was founded as Elektriraudtee in 1998. While initially operating as a subsidiary of Eesti Raudtee, it was separated entirely within two years.^[1]

In May 2013, the Estonian government declared that Elron would be the sole domestic passenger operator in Estonia, compelling the Estonian operator Edelaraudtee to reorientate its operations away from the passenger sector.^[2] This change was not unchallenged; a legal dispute between Edelaraudtee and the Estonian government broke out over compensation for lost revenue from the operator's forced withdrawal from passenger services.^[3][4][5]

Throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s, Elron collaborated closely with Edelaraudtee to examine and implement various opportunities to increase the operating speeds of certain lines, thus enabling Elron's services to run faster in some places.^[6] In May 2020, Eesti Raudtee announced a tender to design and provide to electrify the entire Estonian rail network.^[7] That same year, Elron openly spoke on its enthusiasm to electrify the cross-border line between Tallinn and St Petersburg via a prospective future joint project between Russia and Estonia if favourable terms could be agreed.^[8]

During the 2020s, Elron has multiple plans to expand and improve its network. Options have been studied, including the requisitioning of former goods lines, while a proposed reorganization could reduce the travel times between Tallinn and Tartu to beneath two hours.^[9][10] The maximum service speed of Elron's trains is reportedly set to increase to 160 kilometers per hour.^[11] By 2023, work was underway to reconnect the western Estonian town of Haapsalu, which has not been reachable from the capital by rail since the 1990s, by 2027. A new terminal in Kristiine, west of Tallinn's city center, is also being planned, that shall be better interconnected with the rest of the city's public transport.^[9]

In mid-2021, a new higher fare for passengers travelling with bicycles was introduced.^[12] During January 2022, after two years without any price rises, Elron increased its regular fares by almost 9.5 percent, attributing this as a response to rising energy prices as well to finance infrastructure changes.^[13] Two months later, the company announced that Ukrainian refugees would be able to travel on its trains for free.^[14] In May 2022, it was announced that passenger numbers, which had sharply dipped in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, had recovered.^[15]

During late 2023, Elron ceased its Russian language announcements following complaints.^[16] In September 2023, Elron's ticketing system was temporarily disrupted by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks thought to have been the work of pro-Russia hackers.^[17][18]

Network

Inter-city rail

Elron operates inter-city trains from Tallinn's Baltic Station on several lines: Tallinn–Tartu–Valga (connecting to Pasažieru vilciens trains to Riga), Tallinn–Tartu–Koidula, Tallinn–Narva, and Tallinn–Viljandi.

Services on the Tallinn–Pärnu route ended in December 2018. The line required substantial upgrading and it was not felt worthwhile spending the money required for this around 8 years before Rail Baltica is due to provide much faster service to Pärnu.^[19]

Tallinn commuter rail

A commuter train to Aegviidu at Baltic Station in Tallinn

Tallinn's commuter rail network is electrified, and it extends east and west from Baltic Station, the total length of the network being 132 km (82 mi). The eastbound line goes to Aegviidu. The westbound line goes to the town of Keila, where it divides into two branches continuing towards the cargo-harbour city of Paldiski and inland to Turba. The Paldiski branch splits at Klooga, with a short spur going to the beach at Klooga-rand.

Work to upgrade track and the stations took place in the early 2010s.^[20] To provide better mobile data coverage when passing through rural areas, 25 new cell towers were installed by Telia alongside the Tallinn-Tartu line while 5G apparatus were installed onboard Elron's trains during the early 2020s.^[21]

Rolling stock

Stadler FLIRT in Keila

Elron currently uses 38 Stadler FLIRT electric and diesel-electric trains.

Delivery of the 12 three-car and 6 four-car EMU and 6 two-car, 8 three-car and 6 four-car DEMU^[22] trains built by Stadler Rail started in 2012; by June 2014 all trains had arrived in Estonia.^[23][24] As of 2015, all of the old Soviet trains were retired.

In mid-2019, Elron received permission to purchase 4 new hybrid trains with an option to add 2 electric trains. The decision was due to frequently overcrowding on the operator's most popular routes, given an increase of passenger number of more than a third since the replacement of the rolling stock with the Stadler fleet in 2014.^[25]

During October 2020, Elron announced that Škoda Transportation had won the procurement for six new electric trains with an option to buy 10 more. In January 2023 this option was taken up.^[26] Škoda produced 11 long-distance and 5 suburban dual system electric trains (Škoda 21Ev, InterPanter), which have a number of replaceable seats allowing space for bicycles in warm months, while providing more seating in colder months.^[27] The cost of the initial six trains was €56.2 million, rising to €146.8 million with the 10 additional sets.^[28] The first of these new sets was delivered to Estonia in April 2025, and are due to enter service in December 2025 on Tallinn's suburban lines.^[29] The long-distance sets were initially due to begin operating on the electrified Tallinn-Tartu route, however due to the lack of electrification past Tartu, they will initially also serve these short-distance routes.^[28][30]

Elron rolling stock

Stock	Type	Introduced	Cars	Seats			Quantity
				Configuration	I class	II class
Stadler FLIRT	EMU	2013	3	Commuter service	0	188	12
			4		0	262	6
	DMU	2014	2	Inter-city service	16	89	6
			3		24	137	8
			4		48	166	6
Škoda 21Ev	EMU	2026 (expected)	3	Inter-city service	32	204	6 + 5 ordered
		2025	3	Commuter service	0	263	0 + 5 ordered
Total							44 + 10 ordered

See also

• Rail transport in Estonia
• GoRail, a company operating Tallinn–Saint Petersburg and Tallinn–Moscow services
• Helsinki commuter rail
• Vivi (rail transit) - Latvia's passenger rail company operating Valga–Riga services
• Public transport in Tallinn
• Tallinn–Tapa railway