I have a holiday booked in Latvia in February. It looks like it is and won't be for long, a good place for bashing Soviet era trains. In particular does anyone know if the ER2 and DR1 trains are still about? If so on which routes do they tend to operate and if a route is operated with mixed types of rolling stock is there any way of finding out which one will be operating?
I also have a few questions about fares, I've looked on the LDZ website and it gives some information about fares but I can't find if they are advances, is there such a thing as flexible tickets (there wasn't in Lithuania as far as I could figure)? I'm guessing from the price of the fares a 3 day interrail pass would be unlikely to be worth it, especially since I only have 3 full days and want to spend at least 1 day exploring Riga itself. I also find it odd that there's a 25 cent supplement for diesel traction. Are there any rover type products that may be of use or would I be better buying singles?
Has anyone 'done' Latvia before with some advice to share?
Yes the DR1 and ER2 trains still operate 100% of trains everywhere on the railway network. They are all due to be replaced by the new Skoda trains during 2023 which have already started to be delivered. However the new Skoda trains are still under test and are not expected to start replacing the DR1 and ER2 trains until later on this year. So now is the perfect time to go if you want to take a final ride on the DR1 and ER2 trains before they all get withdrawn. By some point next year they will probably all be gone.
Latvia does not have any day rover tickets. So you just have to buy lots of individual single or return tickets to make your journeys. However the fares are extremely cheap compared to the UK fares. So even with buying lots of individual single or return tickets you will not end up spending much money.
Buying a return ticket gives you a 5% discount over two single tickets. So a return ticket is good value rather than getting two single tickets.
Note that you can only buy tickets (including both single tickets and return tickets) between two stations that have direct trains. So any journeys involving changing trains in Riga would require two separate single tickets or two separate return tickets. You can not buy one through ticket between different lines like we have in the UK.
Within the Riga area (but not further out) they do have day tickets between any two stations on the same line all day. So these allow you to get unlimited travel all day between any two stations of your choice and stop off at intermediate stations. But for any journey between two stations on different lines (that requires you to change in Riga central station) you would need to separate day tickets.
Also for anywhere in Latvia (even outside the Riga area) they sell three day tickets and four day tickets and five day tickets. Just like the day tickets these can only be bought between any two stations on the same line and give you unlimited travel and allow you to stop off at any intermediate station. But again you can not buy three day tickets and four day tickets and five day tickets between two stations on different lines that require you to change trains. But if you are going to be spending a few days on the same line then these can be good value.
DMU trains only have a surcharge of EUR0.25 on the electrified routes that EMU trains also serve. So the EUR0.25 surcharge is only on shorter DMU journeys around Riga where EMU trains also operate. There are also a few trains with numbered reserved seats for a EUR0.70 surcharge. There are also a few trains with first class for a EUR1.40 surcharge.
You can purchase tickets onboard trains. However there is a very small EUR0.50 surcharge if you board at a station with an open ticket office. But if you board at a station with a closed ticket office or no ticket office at all then there is no surcharge at all.
There are no advance tickets like the UK but the fares as so cheap that there is no need for it as you can just turn up and purchase a very cheap fare.
PV operates the trains and their website is here:
www.pv.lv
This is a much more useful website than the LDZ one.
LDZ is the overall parent company and infrastructure operator rather than the actual passenger division.
They have a fare calculator here:
www.pv.lv
You can just simply enter your origin station and destination station and it will bring up all of the different fares for your journey.
As you can see the fares are incredibly cheap compared to the UK.
You can download all of the timetables here:
pv.lv
This PDF shows all trains from Riga:
This PDF shows all trains to Riga:
So these are very useful to plan your journeys.
Latvia is a great country to visit. I have been there many times and always enjoyed it. It is a great time to go now to get a final ride on the DR1 and ER2 before the Skoda trains start replacing them.
I hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions regarding this.
