Public transport of estonia (Eesti ühistransport)

Dear,

I am a student from the Netherlands and then a vacation trip to
Estonia. How does it work there? Im in Estonia in August'2011.

I plan to travel by public transport.
There is much outdated information available on the Internet.

I prefer to train ( the bus is allowed.) I am traveling alone with a
backpack ..

====
train
====
How about in general with the train in Estonia.
How it works with buying the tikets? where can I
Departure see?

* Train to Ülemiste naar Jõhvi (Ylemiste / Ulemiste naar Johvi)
How about that?

* Train from Tallinn to Tartu
How about that?

====
bus
====
* The 747 bus route Tallinn - Kohtla-J rve - J HVI - Narva
http://www.sebe.ee/en/timetable&id=74705&s1=1255&s2=775

How does his bus trip work? I can spot cards
Buying? Works well or is there a better option?

Greetings from,
Alexander

On 14.7.2011 23:40, Alexander wrote:
Dear,

I am a student from the Netherlands and then a vacation trip to
Estonia. How does it work there? Im in Estonia in August'2011.

Everything works quite well there. Big country quite often means Big
Problems, but Estonia is a small country, so problems are smaller snd
manageable. And people tend to be practical. You'll have a nice time there!
I plan to travel by public transport.

Very wise!

There is much outdated information available on the Internet.

I prefer to train ( the bus is allowed.) I am traveling alone with a
backpack ..

After the collapse of Soviet communism Estonia wanted to turn into a
even more pure capitalist little America than the USA is - very fast.
Everything was privatisized, but as there was no real big money
available locally in practise privatization meant selling everything to
foreign investors. Even the whole railway infrastructure. And Tallinn
city water works. What could not be sold was usually left to decay.
Passenger trains were thought to be a relic of the past.

Gradually Estonia began to have second thoughts. Even about passenger
trains, so the railway infra was bought back. The two operators:
Edelaraudtee http://www.edel.ee/274/ (mainly long distance) and
Elektriraudtee http://en.elektriraudtee.ee/index.php (mainly commuter
trafic around Tallinn. Both companies still use rolling stock from the
Soviet era, but most of it has been nicely refurbished and some services
even provide wi-fi for passengers.New Flirt trains have just been
ordered, so in some years train travel is going to be even more comfortable.


====
train
====
How about in general with the train in Estonia.
How it works with buying the tikets? where can I
Departure see?

Tickets can be bought from the net, stations and trains. See the
websites for information.


* Train to Ülemiste naar Jõhvi (Ylemiste / Ulemiste naar Johvi)
How about that?

* Train from Tallinn to Tartu
How about that?

Train service is less frequent and slower than busses, but I prefer them
to busses.
====
bus
====

Bus service is good. See http://bussireisid.ee/index.html?MENU=&KEEL=en

* The 747 bus route Tallinn - Kohtla-J rve - J HVI - Narva
http://www.sebe.ee/en/timetable&id=74705&s1=1255&s2=775

How does his bus trip work? I can spot cards
Buying? Works well or is there a better option?

Greetings from,
Alexander

On Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:40:02 -0700, Alexander wrote:

Dear,

I am a student from the Netherlands and then a vacation trip to Estonia.
How does it work there? Im in Estonia in August'2011.

I plan to travel by public transport. There is much outdated information
available on the Internet.

I prefer to train ( the bus is allowed.) I am traveling alone with a
backpack ..

The last time I checked, a few years ago, passenger train travel in
Estonia seemed to be virtually non-existent. This has puzzled me. Perhaps
it's a problem from the Soviet days. It does seem odd since nearby
Finland has an excellent train system.

I just looked at the Estnain national railway site, http://www.evr.ee/
and it appears to not mention passengers at all.

But see http://www.edel.ee/home

and

http://en.elektriraudtee.ee/index.php

--
Dave Hatunen, Tucson, Baja Arizona, out where the cacti grow

"David Hatunen" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:40:02 -0700, Alexander wrote:

Dear,

I am a student from the Netherlands and then a vacation trip to Estonia.
How does it work there? Im in Estonia in August'2011.

I plan to travel by public transport. There is much outdated information
available on the Internet.

I prefer to train ( the bus is allowed.) I am traveling alone with a
backpack ..

The last time I checked, a few years ago, passenger train travel in
Estonia seemed to be virtually non-existent. This has puzzled me. Perhaps
it's a problem from the Soviet days.

It's a problem from "Joining the EU" days.

When the Baltic states gained independence they had a comprehensive railway
network, but by Western standards it was decrepit and dangerous so it ceased
to be used for passenger services.

As Estonia saw no future for their railways they sold the network to a
private company for freight use.

Then the Baltic states joined the EU and there was money available for
reconstruction. Except that this money isn't available to reconstruct items
in private ownership, so whilst Lithuania and Latvia got EU funds to bring
their railways up to acceptable standards, Estonia didn't.

They've somehow managed to coble together some funds for the Tallinn
commuter network and the line to St Petersburg, but that's about it.

tim

* Train to Ülemiste naar Jõhvi (Ylemiste / Ulemiste naar Johvi)
How about that?

http://www.edel.ee/ticketoffice_en/
0222 Tallinn - Narva # 16:00 3:07 19:07 5,75 € (89,97 EEK)
"Tallinn" = Balti Jaam (Baltic Station), rongijaam = train station
http://www.kalmasaun.ee/asukoht/
http://tinyurl.com/6d2m6rt

"Trammi 2"
http://www.yhistransport.eu/image/trammiliinid.png
http://www.edel.ee/kaart/0/readmore/79/

http://www.ulemiste.ee/lang/?articleID=74
"buses No. 2, 7, 15, and 65 as well as minibuses 214 and 243, and
electric trains from Balti Jaam (Ülemiste stop)"

http://en.elektriraudtee.ee/passenger/timetables
Aegviidu - Tallinn Train nr: 0403
08:49 Ülemiste
08:53 Kitseküla
09:00 Tallinn

http://images3.jetphotos.net/img/1/7...1288725947.jpg
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...nian-lake.html
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...129.x/abstract
"Lake Ülemiste, a water reservoir of the city of Tallinn"

commuter network and the line to St Petersburg, but that's about it.

http://www.edel.ee/ticketoffice_en/
0210 Tallinn-Valga # 06:46 4:49 11:35 8,95 € (140,04 EEK)

http://sirius.ldz.lv/sari/saraksts.asp
661Ð* 11:44 15:03 Valga → Riga-Pasazieru

On 15/07/2011 1:05 AM, David Hatunen wrote:


The last time I checked, a few years ago, passenger train travel in
Estonia seemed to be virtually non-existent. This has puzzled me. Perhaps
it's a problem from the Soviet days. It does seem odd since nearby
Finland has an excellent train system.

I just looked at the Estnain national railway site, http://www.evr.ee/
and it appears to not mention passengers at all.


My niece lived in Estonia for a few years before her recent move to
Latvia. She and her family took a trip by train to St.Petersburg last
year, so there is train travel, though limited. The train station is
right near the old town and close to the harbour.

I was in Tallinn three years ago. We had a great time there, but I don`t
know what there is to see and do in Estonia outside of Tallinn. There
are lots of cruises to Tallinn, but the easiest way to get there is by
air. The airport is very close to the city. It was only $5 for a taxi
from my nieces apartment downtown to the airport.

15.7.2011 8:05, David Hatunen kirjoitti:

The last time I checked, a few years ago, passenger train travel in
Estonia seemed to be virtually non-existent. This has puzzled me. Perhaps
it's a problem from the Soviet days. It does seem odd since nearby
Finland has an excellent train system.

Maintaining a railroad network is something very expensive. Estonia is a
nation of 1 million+ people. I can very well understand that their
railroad grid is not that extensive. Most of the time it is by far more
practical to take an intercity coach instead.

On 14 juuli, 23:40, Alexander wrote:
Dear,

I am a student from the Netherlands and then a vacation trip to
Estonia. How does it work there? Im in Estonia in August'2011.

I plan to travel by public transport.
There is much outdated information available on the Internet.

I prefer to train ( the bus is allowed.) I am traveling alone with a
backpack ..

====
train
====
How about in general with the train in Estonia.
How it works with buying the tikets? where can I
Departure see?

In this summer, there are lots of schedule changes due to track works
between Tallinn and Tapa.

* Train to Ülemiste naar Jõhvi (Ylemiste / Ulemiste naar Johvi)
How about that?

"naar"? Clarify.

Ülemiste is a rail stop in Tallinn, near the airport and the main bus
station. Jõhvi is a rail stop.

Jõhvi is served by 1 daily Gorail train Tallinn-Moscow (the only
international train in Estonia, Tallinn-St. Petersburg was shut back
in 2008) and 1 Edelaraudtee train Tallinn-Narva which makes all stops
and goes Tallinn-Narva in the evening, returns in the morning. Trip
time Jõhvi-Ülemiste is around 2:30.

* Train from Tallinn to Tartu
How about that?

2 all-stop trains daily, trip time about 3:05. Express trains number
between 1 and 4 depending on the day of the week, trip time 2:20 to
2:23.