Cargo, Covid-19, Estonia, Railways, Transport

The top categories of cargoes transported on the infrastructure of Estonian Railways are fertilizers, mineral fuels and chemical goods, the company told BNS.

"During the first five months of the year, the volume of freight transport on our infrastructure decreased mainly due to the decrease in the transport volume of oil shale and mineral fuels, and the effects of the COVID-19 virus also played a role in the decrease in transport volumes," Estonian Railways CEO Erik Laidvee said.

He added, however, that there has been a slight recovery in transport volumes over the last few months, so the company expects the trend to change in the coming months.

Transit shipments accounted for 3.5 million tons of the total shipments on the infrastructure of Estonian Railways in the five months, which is approximately 12% less than during the same period in 2019. 

"Due to the emergency situation in our country, the number of passengers has also been lower in the five months. However, it can already be seen from May that the number of passengers has increased sharply compared to April, and the preference for domestic tourism this summer will certainly help here as well," Laidvee said.

Passengers of local trains numbered almost 345,300 in May and approximately 2.3 million in the five months, which is 31% less than during the same period in 2019.