Country info: Estonia (Eesti)

Rail companies: EVR (Eesti Raudtee)

• EdelaRaudtee (company operating non-electrified routes)
• ElektriRaudtee (company operating electrified routes around Tallinn)
• GO Rail (Tallinn-Moscow & Tallinn-Saint Petersburg trains)

Estonian Rail Network Map 

Currency: Euro

Train travel in Estonia: train types, tickets, fares, discounts & other useful info

National Train Service:

Train types in Estonia: Suburban (linnalähirongides), Regular (reisirong), Express (kiirrong) & InterNational (rahvusvaheline) trains  

• Suburban/Commuter – commuter service around Tallinn area (Tallinn to Aegvidu, Paldiski, Riisipere etc.), special commuter tariff applies, seat reservation not required. Elektriraudtee suburban trains in Estonia have 3 digit number (starting with 4** for trains eastbound or 5** for trains westbound)
  
• Regular  – passenger train service all over Estonia (mainly ordinary DMU stopping at all the stations), seat reservation not required. Regular trains in Estonia have 3 digit number starting with 2** or 3**
  
• Express – fast intercity service connecting major Estonian cities (Tallinn to Tartu & Tallinn to Viljandi), seat reservation not required, but higher tariff applies. Express trains in Estonia have two digit numbers (starting with 1* for connections to/from Tartu & 4* for connections to/from Viljandi)
  
• International - daytime & overnight international trains from Estonia to Russia (Tallinn to Moscow & Tallinn to St.Petersburg), seat/bed reservation required
  

At the moment there are only two international trains in Estonia: from Tallinn to Moscow (# 034/035, everyday) & from Tallinn to Saint Petersburg (# 809/810, everyday), both trains operated by GoRail

However also as a sort of international trains can be considered three pairs of LDz (Latvian Railways) trains terminating at station Valga (border town between Estonia & Latvia). Basically EVR & LDz simply agreed to make it happen, so now passengers can actually travel from Estonian territory to Latvia (Riga, Sigulda, Cesis, Valmiera) by means of Latvian domestic tariff. And at the same time one of the pairs of trains considered to be connected with arrival/departure of Tallinn-Valga & Valga-Tallinn trains, it means that passengers starting their journey from Tallinn in the morning have a chance to change trains in Valga around noon and arrive to Riga in the afternoon. Or vice versa - start from Riga in the afternoon, change in Valga early evening and arrive to Tallinn in the evening

Since September 2011 passengers can as well travel by EdelaRaudtee train till the newly built border station Koidula (before trains were running only till Orava). Koidula station is located just across the border (in walking distance) from Russian town Pechory, thus allowing simple & cheap journey from Estonia to Russia (Pechory, Pskov etc.)

Types of carriages in EVR (EdelaRaudtee, ElektriRaudtee & GoRail) trains:

•  Sitting – various seating carriages used in Suburban, Regular, Express & International trains, in Estonia usually aircraft type salon (1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd class)
• 'Kupe' –  2^nd class sleeper carriage (2/4) with 'closed' compartments for 4 passengers, odd numbers are lower beds, even – upper. Bed reservation required. 'Kupe' carriages in Estonia are used only in international train from Tallinn to Moscow
•  'Lux' – 1^st sleeper carriage (1/2) with compartments for 2 passengers, both beds are lower ones, bed reservation required. 'Lux' carriages in Estonia are used only in international train from Tallinn to Moscow

Discounts, special offers & ways to save money for passengers traveling in Estonia:

1. On certain EdelaRaudtee Express trains besides standard 1st & 2nd class carriages available also 3rd class, which is obviously cheaper, although the travel time stays the same
2. Passengers traveling with children (<12 years old) can take advantage of special Family offer by EdelaRaudtee, which allows to receive 20% discount from the standard fare (tickets >0,80 euro) for adults traveling with children. Minimal number of passengers eligble for Family discount is 2 adults + 1 child
3. Student & Scholars holding ISIC, ITIC & ISIC-Scholar card receive 30% discount from standard fare on all the domestic tickets (EdelaRaudtee & ElektriRaudtee) which exceed fare of 0,80 euro
4. Student & Scholars holding ISIC, ITIC & ISIC-Scholar card traveling on Friday or Sunday evening from Tallinn to Tartu or from Tartu to Tallinn can take advantage of special 'Student Train' (Tudengirong) fare of only 4,5 euro for 2nd class train ticket (valid only on trains # 16/17)

International Train Service:

Tariffs for international tickets used by Estonian Railways:

•  for connections to other European countries - East-West tariff, tariff currency - Euro             
  
•  for connections to former Soviet republics (like Russia) - MGPT 'interstate'tariff (which is actually cheaper than East-West, but more expensive than national tariff), MGPT tariff currency – Swiss Francs

a) Regular discounts

No info available

b) Special offers (SparSchiene)

Not available

c) CityStars

No info available

How to Buy Train Tickets in Estonia:

National (domestic) train tickets can be purchased directly via EdelaRaudtee website or ElektriRaudtee websites (although in both cases it can be done only via Estonian Bank cards/accounts). International tickets (for Tallinn to Moscow & Tallinn to St.Petersburg trains) can be purchased only via ticket counters

Do you still have further questions or want to share your own travel experience? You are welcome on our Forum page

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