“This is the second international train route from Lithuania this year,” Linas Baužys, director of the company’s Passenger Transportation Directorate, said in a press release on Thursday.
The state railway company currently carries passengers to Turmantas, a small town on the border with Latvia, but it sought to extend the route by another 15 kilometers to Daugavpils.
The new service is being launched after Lietuvos Geležinkeliai secured the green light from the Latvian railway inspectorate. The Lithuanian operator asked for its permission last year, but failed to obtain it due to protracted procedures.
Lithuanian Transport Minister Rokas Masiulis said last year that Latvia’s unwillingness to allow transporting passengers to Daugavpils could be due to the problem of a dismantled railway track from the Mažeikiai crude refinery to Renge.