Tallinn–Tapa railway

Tallinn–Tapa railway
Tallinn–Tapa railway at Ülemiste station
Overview
Type	Regional rail Commuter rail Freight rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Estonia (Harju County, Lääne-Viru County)
Termini	Baltic Station Tapa train station
Stations	17
Operation
Opened	1870
Owner	Eesti Raudtee
Operator(s)	GoRail Elron EVR Cargo
Depot(s)	Baltic Station Tapa train station
Rolling stock	2TE116 DR1A (withdrawn) DR1B (withdrawn) Stadler FLIRT (from 2012)[1] ER2 (withdrawn) GE C36-7i GE C30-7Ai ChME3
Technical
Track length	77.8 km (48.3 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) Russian gauge
Electrification	3 kV DC OHLE (Tallinn to Aegviidu)
Operating speed	120 km/h (75 mph)
Route number	List of routes 034P GoRail Moscow–Narva–Tapa–Tallinn 034X GoRail Tallinn–Tapa–Narva–Moscow 809Р GoRail St. Petersburg–Narva–Tapa–Tallinn 810P GoRail Tallinn–Tapa–Narva–St. Petersburg 0010 Edelaraudtee Tallinn–Tapa–Tartu 0011 Edelaraudtee Tartu–Tapa–Tallinn 0012 Edelaraudtee Tallinn–Tapa–Tartu 0013 Edelaraudtee Tartu–Tapa–Tallinn 0014 Edelaraudtee Tallinn–Tapa–Tartu 0015 Edelaraudtee Tartu–Tapa–Tallinn 0016 Edelaraudtee Tallinn–Tapa–Tartu 0017 Edelaraudtee Tartu–Tapa–Tallinn 0210 Edelaraudtee Tallinn–Tapa–Tartu–Valga 0212 Edelaraudtee Tallinn–Tapa–Tartu–Valka 0213 Edelaraudtee Valga–Tartu–Tapa–Tallinn 0221 Edelaraudtee Rakvere–Tapa–Tallinn 0222 Edelaraudtee Tallinn–Tapa–Narva 0223 Edelaraudtee Narva–Tapa–Tallinn 0224 Edelaraudtee Tallinn–Tapa–Rakvere 0291 Edelaraudtee Koidula–Tartu–Tapa–Tallinn 400 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 401 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn 402 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 403 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn 404 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 405 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn 406 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 407 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn 408 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 409 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn 410 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 411 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn 412 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 413 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn 414 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 415 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn 416 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 417 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn 418 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 419 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn 420 Elektriraudtee Tallinn–Aegviidu 421 Elektriraudtee Aegviidu–Tallinn

Tallinn–Tapa railway
Tallinn Rohu street E265/8 Endla street Kitseküla E67/4 E263/2 Veerenni street Ülemiste Vesse Smuuli Road E265/11 Freight line to Muuga Harbour Lagedi Pirita River … 11300 Kulli 11304 Aruküla Raasiku River Raasiku 11310 11313 Parila 12 Kehra Jägala River … … Lahinguvälja Mustjõgi Mustjõgi River … 13 Aegviidu Nelijärve Jäneda … Lehtse … Tapa Tapa–Narva railway Tapa–Tartu railway

The Tallinn–Tapa railway is a 77.8-kilometre (48.3 mi)^[2] long double track partly electrified railway line in Estonia, connecting the cities of Tallinn and Tapa.

Operational use

The line starts in Tallinn at the Baltic Station, runs through Northern Estonia in eastern direction and ends in Tapa, where it connects with railways to Narva and Tartu. It has 17 stations, including its two termini. The line is equipped for speeds up to 120 km/h on its entire length. Ülemiste train station and Baltic Station are included into planned Rail Baltica high-speed standard gauge railway. Passenger train operators include Elron and GoRail. Lux Express Grupp announced its plans to operate the line between Tallinn and St. Petersburg with two Stadler trains.^[3] The line has a railway connection, which serves Muuga Harbour, the largest cargo port in Estonia. Large marshalling yards are located at Baltic Station, Ülemiste train station and Tapa train station.

History

The railway forms together with the Tapa–Narva railway the Tallinn–Narva railway. Its length is 209.6 km (130.2 mi). This line was completed in 1870 and was originally a part of the railway line, which connected St. Peterburg and Paldiski through Tallinn and Narva as a part of the railway network of the Russian Empire.

Future

The second stage of Rail Baltica development includes the modernisation of Tallinn–Tapa railway as a part of Tallinn–Riga railway, so trains could run at 160 km/h.^[4] A new huge train station is to be built at Ülemiste in 2019, making it the largest station on the line and starting serving the whole region through Rail Baltica HSL in period 2020–2025.^[5]

Infrastructure

The railway is maintained from the Baltic Station in Tallinn and Tapa train station. The railway infrastructure operator is EVR Infra – a subsidiary of the national railway company Eesti Raudtee. Modernisation of interlocking of the stations will be made in 2014^[6] and implementation of the ETCS second level is dependant from the phase of development of the technology and comes as the third stage of ERMTS implementation plan for Estonian conventional rail network in period 2019–2025.^[7]

Route

The Baltic Station

End of the electrified section in Aegviidu

Tapa train station

From Baltic Station, trains travel around the centre of Tallinn through Kitseküla train station heading eastwards towards Ülemiste train station. After Vesse station they leave borders of Tallinn and continue in a south-eastern direction through Harju County and Lääne-Viru County till Jäneda station, crossing several rivers on their way. After Jäneda the railway runs mainly in eastward direction till the end point in Tapa, where it splits to railways to Tartu and Narva.

As railway electrification ends in Aegviidu, this station serves as a terminus station for Elron EMUs in eastern direction.

Services are operated by Elron Stadler FLIRT trains, which replaced the DMU and EMU rolling stock of Edelaraudtee and Elektriraudtee.^[8]

See also

• Edelaraudtee
• Eesti Raudtee
• Elektriraudtee
• GoRail
• Rail transport in Estonia

References