Europe Trains Guide

Estonia (EVR)

Country info: Estonia (Eesti)

Rail companies: EVR (Eesti Raudtee)

                             Elron (domestic passenger connections)
                             GO Rail (Tallinn-Saint Petersburg-Moscow train)

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  

tallinn_train_station

  • Suburban/Commuter: commuter service around Tallinn (Tallinn to Aegvidu, Paldiski, Riisipere, etc.), special commuter tariff applies, seat reservation not required. 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, 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 (e.g. Tallinn to Tartu & Tallinn to Viljandi), seat reservation not required, but higher tariff applies. Express trains in Estonia have 2 digit numbers (starting with 1* for connections to/from Tartu & 4* for connections to/from Viljandi)
  • International: overnight international trains from Estonia to Russia (Tallinn to Moscow via St.Petersburg), seat/bed reservation required

At the moment there are only one international train originating from Estonia: 

  • Tallinn to Moscow (# 034/035): daily 'branded' train 'Tallinn Express' (dep.16:25- arr. SPb 23:17 - arr. Moscow 10:06), served by Russian Railways (RZD)
  • Tallinn to Saint Petersburg: Friday & Sunday (#812/811, 15:27-23:05), both served by GoRail (Estonia)

However also exist three pairs of LDz (Latvian Railways) trains as a sort of international one, because they terminat at Estonian station Valga (border town between Estonia & Latvia). Basically EVR & LDz simply agreed to make it work like this, so passengers can travel from Estonia to Latvia (Riga, Sigulda, Cesis, Valmiera) while paying Latvian domestic fare. One of the pairs of Latvian trains to/from Valga is "connected" with arrival/departure of Tartu-Valga & Valga-Tartu trains, thus it means that you can actually leave Riga around noon, arrive to Tartu in th afternoon or Tallinn in the evening (or vice versa: depart from Tallinn early morning or from Tartu late morning, change at Valga and be in Riga in the afternoon.

edel_ldz_trains_valga

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

 

Types of carriages in EVR (Elron & GoRail) trains:

  •  Sitting: various seating carriages used in Suburban, Regular, Express & International trains, in Estonia usually aircraft type salon (1st, 2nd class)
  • Platskartnyi: 3rd class couchette carriage (3/6) with an open compartments & 54 berths (beds from #1-36 located in the open compartments, while beds from #37-54 are on the side, thus opposite to compartments, odd numbers are lower berths, even – upper. Bed reservation required. 'Platskartnyi' carriages in Estonia can be found only in the international train from Tallinn to Moscow
  • 'Kupe':  2nd 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 can be found only in the international train from Tallinn to Moscow
  •  'Lux': 1st sleeper carriage (1/2) with compartments for 2 passengers, both beds are lower ones, bed reservation required. 'Lux' carriages in Estonia can be found only in the international train from Tallinn to Moscow

 

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

  1. Passengers purchasing Estonian domestic tickets online (via Elron website) receive 10% discount from the base ticket fare
  2. Students & Scholars holding ISIC, ITIC & ISIC-Scholar cards receive 30% discount from the standard base fare on all the domestic tickets which cost >0,80 euro
  3. Passengers planning multiple trips within Estonia might consider purchasing Elron discounted fare card Elron Soidukaart. The card cost only 2,50 euro, but allows to save 10% on all the Elron tickets
tallinn-moscow_train

 

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, MGPT tariff currency – Swiss Francs

a) Regular discounts

No info available

b) Special offers (SparSchiene)

  • For journeys from Tallinn to St.Petersburg (train № 812/811) passengers get 20% off when buying their tickets 45-31 days in advance or 15% with 30-16 days in advance
  • For journeys from Tallinn to Moscow via St.Petersburg (train # 33/34) passengers receive 15% discount when buying train tickets 60-31 days in advance or 10% with 30-21 days in advance ticket purchase

c) CityStars

No info available

edel_dmu_tartu

 

How to Buy Train Tickets in Estonia:

National (domestic) train tickets can be purchased directly via Elron website

International tickets (for Tallinn to Moscow via St.Petersburg) can be ordered via GoRail website, purchased directly from GoRail service points or via Russian Railways (RZD) website

tallinn_commuter_trains


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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