Th e R a i lways of L at v i a

Toms AltbergsKarīna Augustāne

Ieva Pētersone

T H E R A I L W A Y S O F

L A T V I A

Translated by Daina Grosa

Th e national railway company of Latvia — State Joint Stock Company Latvijas dzelzceļš which recently became a concern, is one of the nation’s largest companies and one of the strongest economically.

Th e history of the railways in the territory of Latvia dates back 150 years. Latvian State Railways was founded on 5 August 1919. Th e Railway Central Board took on the task of transforming the railways that had been devastated by World War I and the chaos that followed and over a 20 year period established one of the most extensive and modern railway networks in Europe. Th e network was founded on the legacy of tsarist Russia, with over 800 km of railways constructed, and so a structurally well-balanced railway system was established. Th is provided domestic and transit trans-port services to the east and the west. Working on the railways symbolised stability and being a railwayman became one of the most prestigious and best-paid professions.

Over the years, strong traditions have evolved among the employees of Latvijas dzelzceļš, as well as a strong sense of community, common ties and pride in the profession. When Latvijas dzelzceļš renewed its independent status in 1992, pre-war railwaymen’s traditions were gradually reinstated and the profession regained its prestige. Th is is a result of sound economic management as well as the eff orts of railway historians and well-wishers.

As time goes by and the company develops it is important to look at cur-rent aff airs fr om a historical perspective. Th is book was writt en to concisely recount the history of the development of the railways in the territory of Latvia since the mid-19th century. Th e book contains a chronological his-tory, with an accent on railway lines and stations.

I am convinced that this book, rich in facts and illustrations and co-authored by experts at the Latvian Railway History Museum, will be an interesting read and will help to understand the railway sector—one of the pillars of our nation’s economy.

Uģis Magonis,Chairman of the Board

Joint Stock Company Latvijas dzelzceļš

Foreword

Design Jānis Jaunarājs

Managing Editor Evija Veide

Copy Editor Marianna Auliciema

The photographs and documents used in this book have been sourced from the collections at the Power Industry Museum, National History Museum of Latvia, Latvian Railway History Museum, October Railway Central Museum and the Lithuanian Railway Museum as well as the private archives of Vladimirs Eihenbaums, Dainis Punculs, Arnis Dambis, Dzintra Rupeika, Manfred Hohmann and Peter Lindemann.

Th is book was published with the support of State Joint Stock Company “Latvijas dzelzceļš”

UDK 656.2(474.3)(091) Ra 314

AUTHORS

Rītupe–Daugavpils, Rīga–Daugavpils, Daugavpils–Zemgale, Daugavpils–Indra, Rīga–Jelgava, Liepāja–Vaiņode, Rīga–Mangaļi, Rīga–Bolderāja, Grīva–Eglaine, Jelgava–Reņģe, Rīga–Tukums, Rīga–Valka, Valka–Ipiķi, Liepāja–Aizpute, Ventspils–Zilupe, Abrene–Sita, Pļaviņas–Valka, Ainaži–Valmiera–Smiltene and Pāle–Staicele, Ieriķi–Gulbene–Sita, Priekule–Kalēti, Jelgava–Meitene, Viesīte field railways, Stende–Ventspils field railways, Meitene–Bauska, Aizpute–Saldus, Liepāja–Rucava, Sita–Rēzekne, Pakalnieši–Kūdupe, Liepāja–Kuldīga and Alsunga–Ventspils

Liepāja–Glūda

Cycles in Latvian railway history, Rīga–Ērgļi–Madona–Lubāna–Kārsava, Krustpils–Jēkabpils, Rīga–Rūjiena

Toms Altbergs:

Karīna Augustāne:

Ieva Pētersone:

© State Joint Stock Company “Latvijas dzelzceļš”, 2010© Toms Altbergs, Karīna Augustāne, Ieva Pētersone, text, 2009© Daina Grosa, translation, 2010© Jānis Jaunarājs, design and layout, 2010© Publication in English, “Jumava” publishers, 2010

ISBN 978–9984–38–776–5

Th e railway network of Latvia reached its peak in 1938/1939, when the total length of the network was 3350 kilometres. During the years of Latvia’s independence the railways provided the backbone for the transport system and the economy as a whole. Having ex-perienced the rapid development of automobile and air transporta-tion, Europe is now, at the start of the 21st century, returning to rail transport, recognising it as an environmentally friendly, economical, convenient and safe mode of transport. Th e aim of this book is to describe the origin and development of the railway network until it reached its peak and to outline the fate of the lines until 1991, when management of the railway was taken over again by the independent Latvian state. In 1994 the state-owned joint stock company Latvijas dzelzceļš founded a museum responsible for studying railway herit-age and establishing a museum collection. At last all the information, images and cartographic material relating to the railway network in Latvia have been collected and housed in one place. Th e book pro-vides a description of the railways, arranged in chronological order of construction, revealing the unique details of each line and its fate. Th e photographs of stations and halts, gleaned from the museum collection and the collections of railway enthusiasts, provide an insight into changes in the appearance of the railway surroundings over the years.

Although the research includes an extensive range of histori-cal sources and literature, many questions still remain unanswered. During the course of writing this book, the authors consulted archi-val material and publications, but it is the meticulous comparison and scrutiny of annual reports, train schedules, maps, regulations as well as eyewitness accounts that have aimed to dispel inaccuracies that have crept in over the years, and to collate all the information scatt ered in many locations.

Documents located in the Latvian Railway Central Board Fund No. 4592 of the Latvian State Historical Archives were used as a pri-mary source for the period between 1919 and 1945, as were some documents from the turn of the 20th century. It has been diffi cult to locate an extensive collection of materials in the archives pertaining to the period up to the founding of the Republic of Latvia. Informa-tion about the more important resolutions regarding railway policy and the development of the railways was gleaned from other docu-ments in the fi le: minutes of the meetings of the Railways Board, management directions and directions of the Minister of Transport. Th e internal communications of the Railway Central Board were also studied, as was the communication between Latvian ministries and foreign railway companies. Th e Latvian Railway Central Board

Fund also provided technical information on the condition of the railways in existence at the time and the construction of new lines. Th is information was fi rstly gleaned from the minutes of technical committ ee meetings; it was also found in technical materials such as sketch albums, plans of railway lines, stations and bridges. Doc-umentation could not be found in relation to all lines and railway structures, and thus, as the Railway Central Board Fund was not comprehensive, it could only serve as a partial and incomplete his-torical source when researching this book.

Th e Latvian State Historical Archives could provide detailed in-formation on the operations of two private railway joint stock com-panies (the Valmiera Narrow Gauge Branch Line and the Liepāja–Aizpute Railway) from 1924 to 1938, however this information does not contribute much to the analysis of the development trends of the Latvian railway network.

An important primary source that is still overlooked is the Army Military Field Transport Central Board Fund No. 3593 within the Latvian State Historical Archives. Th ese documents relate to the taking over of management of railway lines and stations following German occupation as well as the period of the struggle for inde-pendence 1919–1920.

Information about railways in the territory of Latvia 1940–1941 and 1944–1992 can be found in the State Archives of Latvia Fund No. 93, entitled Baltijas dzelzceļa pārvalde un tai pakļautās nodaļas (Th e Baltic Railway Board and its subordinate departments). A large volume of information is available here, although it has not been fully catalogued. In writing this book, information has been included on the structure of railway management as well as the restoration and construction of railway lines. Th is archival material was essential in helping to narrow down some key dates such as the construction of buildings built during the Soviet era, the dates when services on specifi c sections of the line were reopened and the dates when lines were electrifi ed.

Th e other listed archival funds were used to obtain information regarding sidings constructed to provide access to factories built during the Soviet era, various government enterprises, military zones, ports, forests, peat bogs and granite quarries.

Maps and charts were an invaluable resource, as were postcards and photographs from the Latvian Railway History Museum and the private archives of Toms Altbergs and Dainis Punculis. Viewed in the context of timetables for working and public trains, these pho-tos provide an insight into the history and names of the stations, as well as their changes of location.

I N T R O D U C T I O N , O V E R V I E W O F S O U R C E S A N D L I T E R A T U R E 7

C Y C L E S I N L A T V I A N R A I L W A Y H I S T O R Y Th e origin of the railways in Latvia (1860–1918) 9 Latvian State Railways (1919–1940) 11 Latvian Railways during World War II (1940–1945) 15 Th e railway during the Soviet occupation regime (1945–1991) 16 How Latvian Railways regained independence (1991–1992) 18

R A I L W A Y L I N E S I N L A T V I A Rītupe–Daugavpils 20Rīga–Daugavpils 25Daugavpils–Zemgale 37Daugavpils–Indra 39Rīga–Jelgava 43Liepāja–Vaiņode 48Rīga–Mangaļi 54Rīga–Bolderāja 56Grīva–Eglaine 62Jelgava–Reņģe 64Rīga–Tukums 68Rīga–Valka 76Valka–Ipiķi 84Liepāja–Aizpute 86Ventspils–Zilupe 90Abrene–Sita 108Pļaviņas–Valka 110

Introduction, overview of sources and liter atureIndex

Ainaži–Valmiera–Smiltene and Pāle–Staicele 116Ieriķi–Gulbene–Sita 121Priekule–Kalēti 126Jelgava–Meitene 128Viesīte fi eld railways 130Stende–Ventspils fi eld railways 136Meitene–Bauska 146Aizpute–Saldus 148Liepāja–Rucava 150Liepāja–Glūda 153Sita–Rēzekne 162Pakalnieši–Kūdupe 164Liepāja–Kuldīga and Alsunga–Ventspils 166Rīga–Ērgļi–Madona–Lubāna–Kārsava 174Krustpils–Jēkabpils 179Rīga–Rūjiena 182

A P P E N D I X Bibliography 192 Alphabetical list of persons 194 List of stations, crossing loops, passing loops and halts 197

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Th e history and development of the railways in Latvia is infl uenced by the geographic location of our country and the frequently chang-ing socio-political situation. Global economic trends and technologi-cal advances have also had an infl uence. Th e construction of railway tracks in Latvia is closely tied in with the policies of the Russian Em-pire in the second half of the 19th century. Th e Baltic provinces served as a transit link, contributing to the transport of agricultural export and raw materials for the development of industry. Th e fi rst railways in Latvia were arterial sections in the east-west direction with ports as the terminals for the lines. Having secured foreign capital, local busi-nessmen formed the fi rst railway companies in the Baltic provinces. In order to fully understand the reasoning behind the construction and the direction of the lines, it is important to not merely look at the map of Latvia, but rather the entire European part of the Russian Empire. Only by looking at the big picture is it possible to make sense of the fact that the fi rst railway line operating in the territory of Latvia, the Rītupe–Daugavpils line (1860), a section of the St. Petersburg–War-

saw arterial, played a minor role in the growth of the local economy. Th e Rīga–Daugavpils line (1861), however, constructed on the old trade route along the banks of the Daugava River, was not only a more convenient and more cost-eff ective route to the Port of Rīga. Th e railway also promoted the growth of new craft s and trading centres, provided a means of transportation of agricultural produce, and moti-vated Latvians to learn the skills required for railway construction and operations. Th is laid the foundation for the local railway network. In the decade to follow, this new mode of transport expanded rapidly in the Baltic provinces. Aft er almost eight years of batt ling to be granted building approval, in 1868 a railway track was opened from Rīga to Jelgava, a town in Zemgale that was a hive of activity at the time. In the early 1870s railway lines to Mangaļi and Bolderāja were constructed in Rīga to promote the development of the Port of Rīga. Th e ice-free Port of Liepāja facilitated the construction of the Liepāja–Kaišadore, Radiviliškis–Grīva and Jelgava–Mažeikiai railway lines and at the same time helped expand the railway network in the territory of Lithuania.

Th e most extensive range of historical resources were documents relating to the railway lines of independent Latvia. Dzelzceļu vēstnesis is a collection of offi cial regulations which is a more accurate source of information than the archives, providing news on the offi cial openings of services on particular lines, the offi cial dates of openings, closures or name changes of particular stations and halts. Th e annual reports of railway companies in tsarist Russia as well as those of the Latvian Na-tional Railways provide accurate information about the changes in the total length of the railway network, the construction of station build-ings, the volume of goods transported and rolling stock.

Transcripts from Saeima (parliamentary) sessions provide infor-mation on public political debates justifying the need to construct cer-tain railway lines; the direction of these lines and changes to the termi-nals; the importance of the construction of railways in general as well as fi nancial models for this construction. At fi rst glance this may seem to be quite chaotic, as the gauge and direction of the lines changed dur-ing the course of the debates. Th is has led to inaccuracies in even the most recent Latvian historical research.

Th e largest volume of articles on the development trends, op-portunities and results regarding the Latvian railway network relate to the fi rst Republic of Latvia, when there was a systematic approach to the construction of railway lines with the aim to boost the national economy. Besides the publication Dzelzceļu vēstnesis. Neofi ciālā daļa, published by Latvian Railways, there are two other publications on this subject: Ekonomists and Satiksme un Tehnika. Emigré railwaymen published a magazine, Dzelzceļnieks trimdā, which featured memoirs of their employment on the railways and analytical articles, including analyses of the Soviet era. Publications in the local press provide an in-sight into public sentiment during a particular era, depicting the proc-ess of construction of each building, providing a detailed account of the opening ceremonies and outlining how the station buildings and bridges were opened for operations.

Some of the books published on this subject to date provide an overview of the development of the railway network in Latvia, but this has never been the primary purpose of these books. One of the fi rst de-scriptions of all railways and branch lines in tsarist Russia until 1897 can be found in the book published by the Russian Ministry of Transport, titled Исторический очерк развития железных дорог в России с их основания по 1897 г. включительно. A detailed description of all lines managed by the Rīga–Orel Railway Board can be found in the book, Краткий исторический очерк объединения и эксплуатации Риго-Орловской железной дороги ко дню Пятидесятилетия постройки Риго-Двинского участка, как самостоятельной в свое время Риго-Динабургской жел. д. published in 1911.

Both of these books were used as sources for the description of the fi rst railway lines in Latvia. Th e railways constructed during tsarist Rus-sian rule have also been described in a book by Lidija Malahovska, titled Latvijas transporta vēsture. XIX gs. otrā puse–XX gs. sākums. Th is book pro-

vides an analysis of the operations of fi ve broad gauge railway lines as-sociated with ports. Th e book outlines the economic motivation for the construction of these lines, the founding of companies and the progress of construction work, the volume and range of goods transported, stress-ing the dependence on the Russian railway network and market. An im-portant publication used as a reference in the description of the longest railway line in Latvia was Спутник по Московско-Виндавской железной дороге. A whole chapter has been devoted to the development of the rail-way network in the book titled Latvijas dzelzceļi 1918–1938, where the development of the railway lines up to World War I is mentioned, fol-lowed by a detailed description of every railway line constructed in in-dependent Latvia up until 1938. Th e monograph by Arnolds Aizsilnieks, Latvijas saimniecības vēsture 1914–1945, is the most extensive evaluation of the post-war period, touching on both World Wars, as railway tracks changed considerably in wartime. Th ere was no research conducted on the railways during Soviet occupation. In 1974 a propaganda-style book appeared, with the title Магистраль дружбы. Co-authored by Baltic railway employees, its main purpose was to provide an argument for the idea of celebrating the centenary of a united Baltic railway network in 1973. Some chapters were devoted to the achievements of the Soviet railways and the development of the network, with particular empha-sis on post-war reconstruction, the electrifi cation of suburban lines and new structures. Following the renewal of Latvian independence, a book was published with the title Valsts valstī writt en by Leonīds Ļubimovs and Toms Altbergs; the fi rst att empt to evaluate the development of the railways during the period of occupation. Besides archival material, another valuable source of information about the events during World War II is the book Latvijas dzelzceļi 1919–1940 (II daļa) un 1941–1945.

A comprehensive publication with a detailed listing of USSR railway stations is Архангельский А. С., Архангельский В. А. Железнодорожные станции СССР: Справочник. В двух книгах published in 1981. Descrip-tions of each station include the USSR railway line the station is affi liated with and the year it was opened, which unfortunately does not always correspond with information gleaned from other sources.

To avoid confusion regarding railway terminology — the legacy of diff erent eras and languages — the book only uses the terminology of the fi rst period of Latvian independence, as well as the railway section of a book published in exile, titled Latviešu techniskās terminoloģijas vārdnīca, and Krievu–latviešu dzelzceļa terminu vārdnīca, published in Rīga in 1998. Th is book att empted to once again “Latvianise” the ter-minology used in the railway sector.

None of the previously mentioned books, reports or publications or any of the encyclopedias published to date provides accurate in-formation on all the railway lines, stations and halts on the lines that currently exist or once existed in Latvia. Th is set the challenge for the employees of the railway history museum — to summarise all the knowledge and information acquired over the past 15 years about the heritage of our national railways.

C yc l e s i n L at v i a n r a i lway h i s t or yThe origin of the railways in Latvia (1860–1918)

View of the Port of Liepāja in the early 20th century. The railway lines were constructed right up to the port environs, railway workshops, the Naval Port and various state enterprises, warehouses and piersIeva Pētersone

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In November 1918, following the proclamation of the Repub-lic of Latvia, the management of the railways in the territory of Latvia became part of the portfolio of the Ministry for Trans-port and Employment; the ministry took over the management from the authorities established by the German occupation. Th e fi rst railway operations department was established in Liepāja. In the fi rst months of 1919, three diff erent structures were at-tempting to manage the railways in Latvia: the government un-der the leadership of Pēteris Stučka had established the LSSR Railway Board in Vidzeme and Latgale, while the government under the leadership of Andrievs Niedra founded the Railway Board in Rīga in May. Not long aft er, the Interim Railway Board of Northern Latvia was founded on 14 June.

In the summer of 1919, following the liberation of Rīga from the Bolsheviks, the government under the leadership of Kārlis Ulmanis founded its own railway board. Engineer Gustavs Klaustiņš was appointed as Managing Director of the Railways on 19 July, and on 5 August the Railway Central Board started managing the Latvian State Railways, with Klaustiņš at the helm until 1 September 1940. Th e state took over all the broad gauge tracks and most of the narrow gauge tracks. By 1938 there were also two private railway companies in Latvia with services from Liepāja to Aizpute and from Ainaži to Smiltene.

Th e administrative functions of the Latvian Railway Central Board were allocated to various divisions: Operations, Techni-cal, Rolling Stock and Spare Parts, as well as the Financial De-partment. Th e Central Statistics Department and the Health or Medical Treatment Department reported directly to the Managing Director. Th e whole railway network was divided into operations departments (originally fi ve; from 1921 there were three; all were abolished in 1931), which all reported to the Director of Opera-tions and managed railway operations. To manage the railway and building construction departments eff ectively, the railway network was divided into railway districts, managed by the Technical Divi-sion. Th e Rolling Stock and Spare Parts Department managed six rail car districts and two Central Railway Workshops. If an issue had to be resolved by more than one division, or the matt er was not the director’s area of responsibility, it was resolved by the council of the Railway Central Board. Th is comprised of all the directors of the Divisions and was chaired by the Managing Director. Until 1940, three highly acclaimed engineers held the position of Man-aging Director: Gustavs Klaustiņš (1919–1921), Kārlis Bļodnieks (1921–1924 and 1931–1940) and Andrejs Rode (1924–1931).

In the autumn of 1919 Latvia had a railway network with a to-tal length of 2763 km, while only 928 km were in use: Rīga–Krust-pils, Krustpils–Atašiene, Rīga–Valmiera–Strenči, Rīga–Priedaine,

With the opening of the Rīga–Tukums line in 1877, active investment of private capital ceased and so the fi rst railway construction boom in Latvia ground to a halt. Th e railway lines that had been opened to-talled 799 km in length and stimulated the development of towns and ports. New factory complexes and warehouse precincts sprang up in towns located near railway lines. Large grain silos, refrigeration plants and sidings were constructed at the ports. Local farmers and small fac-tory owners started making use of the railways.

Railway politics experienced signifi cant changes throughout Rus-sia on the eve of the 19th century. Management was centralised and uni-fi ed, the state started investing government funds in the development of the railway sector. Th e fi rst railway line in Latvia to be constructed with government funding was the Rīga–Pskov railway (1889). Th e state took over the largest private companies to ensure that the railways were utilised effi ciently to boost the economy as well as for the pur-poses of the military. In 1907 three diff erent boards managed the state railways that were operating in the territory of Latvia: the Rīga–Orel Railway Board (the Rīga–Daugavpils, Daugavpils–Indra, Rīga–Jelgava, Jelgava–Reņģe, Rīga–Tukums, Rīga– Bolderāja and Rīga–Mangaļi rail-way lines), the Northwestern Railways Board (the Rītupe–Daugavpils, Daugavpils–Zemgale and Rīga–Valka, Abrene–Sita railway lines) and the Liepāja–Romny Railway Board (the Liepāja–Vaiņode and Grīva– Eglaine railway lines). In 1897 the fi rst narrow gauge (750 mm) railway was opened in Latvia, running from Valka to Pärnu via Ipiķi and con-structed by the First Branch Line Company of Russia. Th e same year saw the founding of the Moscow–Windau–Rybinsk Railway Company. Th is company constructed the broad gauge railway from Moscow to Ventspils and this came to be the shortest route to the ice-free ports on the Baltic Sea. At the beginning of the 20th century, the railway com-pany established by the nobility in the Liepāja region opened services on the metre-wide Liepāja–Aizpute railway line. By World War I the

nobility in Vidzeme had also opened two branch lines: Pļaviņas–Valka and Ainaži–Valmiera–Smiltene. In 1902 a project was draft ed and work commenced on the reconstruction of the Rīga junction. Th is recon-struction included the opening of a new railway bridge across the Dau-gava River, viaducts, a number of goods stations and railway branch lines. In 1914 the total track length of the whole railway network was 1941 kilometres. Regional network density was not evenly distributed. Th ere were 3.8 km of railways to 100 km2 of land in Latgale, 2.8 km in Vidzeme and 1.7 km of railways to 100 km2 in Kurzeme.

During World War I the railways in the Russian Empire were taken over by the military with its main purpose to meet the needs of the army: transport of troops, food supplies, arms and ammuni-tion. For the fi rst time in the history of the world, mass evacuation of civilians, factories, government departments, artworks etc. was made possible because of the railways. Th e German Army constructed Feld-bahn (600 mm gauge) railway networks in its occupied territories in Kurzeme and Zemgale, in the regions of Ventspils–Stende and Viesīte. Th e 12th Russian Army constructed the 750 mm Ieriķi–Gulbene–Sita railway line in Vidzeme and relayed the tracks of the Pļaviņas–Gulbene railway line, changing the gauge from 750 mm to 1524 mm.

During World War I there was a total of 822 km of tracks in the territory of Latvia. Th e Latvian railway network had fi ve diff erent track gauges: K or 1524 mm, N or 1435 mm, 1000 mm, P or 750 mm, L or 600 mm.1 Warfare and the location of the front line in the centre of Latvia for a lengthy period of time — along the Daugava River — reduced the railways to a pile of rubble. Sleepers had not been up-graded for years, tracks were dilapidated, telegraph poles and water supply systems had broken-down, locomotives and wagons were in need of repair, bridges and buildings had been bombed, there was a dire need of fuel and lubricants, etc. Such was the state of the railways when the Latvian state started forming the state railways.

View of the Port of Liepāja in the early 20th century

Portrait of the Managing Director of Latvijas dzelzceļi, Kārlis Bļodnieks, ca. 1925. Bļodnieks started his career with Latvian State Railways in 1919 as Di-rector of Operations. He held the position of Managing Director from 1921 to 1924 and from 1931 to 1940. He was a member of the Latvian Railwaymen Association. He was arrested in June 1941, deported and shot in a concentra-tion camp in 1942

The location of the Ministry of Transport and the Latvian Railway Central Board, located at Gogoļa Street 3. Built in the early 20th century as the headquarters of the Rīga-Orel Railway Board. The location of the Ministry of Transport, Latvian Railwaymen Association and Art Academy of Latvia from 1919 to 1940

Latvian State Railways (1919–1940)

1 K was the Russian gauge, N the standard gauge, P the narrow gauge and L the fi eld gauge.

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ones. However, the railways had issued a directive to construct modern railway station buildings, ensuring comfortable facilities and amenities for railway employees and passengers. A total of 121 new station buildings were built by 1940, with the largest stations built at Lielvārde, Meitene, Zemgale, Ķemeri, Sigulda, Gulbene, Dzērbene, Piebalga, Stende, Lizums, Dobele and Saldus, among others. Other buildings were residential buildings for employees, working buildings, goods and luggage stores, butt er cellars, goods ramps, water towers and sheds for locomotives and wagons.

In 1927 the Managing Director of the Railways, Andrejs Rode, addressed the Economic Council of the Ministry of Fi-nance with this comprehensive description of the transport pol-icy: “Th e railway is the foundation of the entire national economy, or a prerequisite for the prosperity of the nation. Raw materials for local industry are delivered via railway, with timber compris-ing the majority of goods transported (60%), and Latvia is a na-tion suited for transit because of its ports. It is therefore necessary to expand the railway network so that it provides transport to all the regions in Latvia. Th e role of the government is to make this essential mode of transport as effi cient as possible”.

Th e founding of the Liepāja–Glūda Railway Construction Board on 1 April 1925 marked the beginning of the railway line construction program. Construction work on the line, which was 164 km in length, was completed in 1929. It linked up Kurzeme and the Port of Liepāja with the capital city. Construction work on other railway lines did not eventuate because of a shortage of funds. By the summer of 1940, however, three more broad gauge railways were operational: Rīga–Ērgļi (1935), Madona–Lubāna (1937), Dzirnupe (Mangaļi)–Rūjiena (1937), Pakalnieši–Kūdupe (1934), two branch lines: Liepāja–Alsunga, with a branch line to Pāvilosta (1932) and Sita–Rēzekne (1934), a fi eld railway from Ventspils to Dundaga (1934), as well as forest railways and line ex-

Ieriķi–Vecgulbene, Pļaviņas–Vecgulbene, Valmiera–Ainaži, Valm-iera–Smiltene and Rīga–Olaine. Every line had an average of two trains running daily. Interim tariff s were announced in November and the fi rst list of railway station names approved. Station names were changed from German to Latvian. When the batt le for inde-pendence ended in 1920, the Railway Central Board ensured that services were resumed on practically the whole railway network.

Not only was the Railway Central Board in charge of regulat-ing rail services and managing passenger and goods transport, it also formed a new governing body, commissioned the develop-ment of Latvian railway terminology, draft ed technical regula-tions, instructions and the Saeima (parliament) passed a Rail-way Act in 1927. A new generation of railwaymen was raised and educated in Latvian educational institutions over this 21 year period. In 1920 the Railway Central Board had 7327 employees with around 1000 positions still to be fi lled. Qualifi ed industry specialists were still sought: engineers, commercial and opera-tions auditors, surveyors, architects, doctors, fi tt ers etc.

Th is problem was solved gradually when many railwaymen re-turned from exile, as during the rule of tsarist Russia many young engineering graduates had been commissioned to work on the rail-ways in diff erent parts of the Empire. Th e Railway Central Board established an Education Department that organised courses for train conductors, station att endants, telegraphists, cashiers, points-men, engine-drivers, yard couplers and other trades and Latvian language courses so that Latvian would be the only language spo-ken in the railway industry. Th e new railway engineers were edu-cated at the Faculty of Mechanics at the University of Latvia. Th e Central Railway Hospital and Pharmacy and a Medical Treatment Department were established to provide health care for employees.

Until World War I the railways in Latvia served mainly as a transit provider, with the railway lines heading in the direction of the ports. In the 1920s and 1930s Latvia no longer had the status of a nation focused on transit, nor was it considered an industrially developed region. Latvia was an agricultural nation and not only was its transport system structured on the existing railway network, it also invested a large amount of government funds into extend-ing the network. Th e idea of developing the railway network was based on the following goals: ease of access, cost-eff ectiveness and convenience of transport. It is worth noting that this not only in-cluded the construction of new lines but also the tariff policy for the railway, the opening of new stations and halts every 9 km on average instead of every 20–30 km as was the previous policy, an increase in the speed of services, the construction of new carriages, an increase in the number of trains, etc. Th e opening of the fi rst new railway station building in Ķemeri on 15 May 1922 was sym-bolic, as it marked the beginning of the extensive railway construc-tion program. Stations were oft en initially set up in goods wagons when services were resumed on old lines or begun on newly-built

tensions or connections. Over a fi ft een-year period, the state had funded the construction of 839.3 km of railway, while 250 km of tracks had been dismantled due to their poor technical condition.

Th e development and modernisation of the railways was not only limited to the construction of railway lines. Th e main achievements were an increase in train velocity, the centralisation of electrical points and signals, the opening of new stations and halts. Services with combined goods-passenger carriages ceased. New passenger, goods and postal carriages were constructed in the Fenikss factory, the Liepāja Naval Port workshops and the main workshops of the State Railways. A direct rail link to Eu-rope had already been renewed in 1921. On 28 May 1928 the Railway Central Board received its order of three Tk series loco-motives from Germany; this marked the fi rst step of the project draft ed by the Rolling Stock Division to modernise the locomo-tive shed and rolling stock. By 1940 a total of 73 locomotives had been either purchased by the Railway Central Board or built in the main workshops of the State Railways. Railcars, rail buses and locotractors were put into service on less traffi cked lines.

Th e Railway Central Board built saw mills for the production of sleepers, shingles for roof construction and fi rewood, woodwork-ing and mechanics workshops for the production of tables, station benches, ticket cabinets, windows and doors. An electromechanical workshop produced telegraphs, telephones and other devices. Celt-rans, the State Railways travel agency, took advance ticket bookings, organised luggage delivery, organised tours, published train timeta-bles and provided general information. Th e travel agency organised tourist or leisure rail routes which proved to be very popular.

In 1939–1940 the Railway Central Board was the largest gov-ernment institution — with 13 400 employees. Th e total value of its fi xed and movable assets amounted to 9% of the national econ-omy, and railway employees comprised 35% of the total number

Parents’ Day concert at the Latvian Railwaymen Association’s children’s sana-torium in Bulduri. The Latvian Railwaymen Association (1920–1941) estab-lished a sanatorium and recreation house in Jūrmala. 1930s. Photographer T. Grīviņš, Rīga

Single trip tickets on the Latvian State Railways in the 1930s. Platform tickets were used at stations where passenger platforms had no public access. People who did not have tickets for travel but wished to access the platform had to purchase a platform ticket

An advertisement for goods deliveries via a railway auto service. In the 1930s, Celtrans, the travel and tourism office of the State railways, offered a new serv-ice: “Door-to-door deliveries”

Membership card Nr. 939/2 of Jānis Eklons, member of the Ventspils branch of the Association of Locomotive Drivers (1927–1935)

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of persons employed in Latvia. Th e total length of the national rail network operating in 1939 was 3223 km, with 497 halts and sta-tions. Th e Valmiera Narrow Gauge Branch Line Company owned the branch lines with a total length of 127 km. Th e railways trans-ported an average of 3.4 million tonnes of goods annually, with the largest proportion of goods being timber. Th e second most popular type of goods transported was agricultural produce: sugar beets, rye, milk, export butt er and bacon. Th is was followed by ar-tifi cial fertiliser and construction materials: rocks, bricks, cement, soil, gravel and wood planks. Regarding passenger transport, the number of passengers reached a total of 16.6 million in 1939. Rīga, Jūrmala and their surrounds comprised 53% of the total number of passengers, event hough the length of the lines totalled 10% of the total length of the rail network. Passenger services on the suburban rail network were most heavily used during the Har-vest Festival, Song Festival, to att end theatre performances in the countryside, agricultural exhibitions and other excursions.

Th e operations of the Railway Central Board until 1940 clearly show that the Board followed a strategic plan to establish a mod-ern railway network. However, it also had to face challenges in the aft ermath of the economic crisis, and avoided analysis of its operations by taking advantage of national protectionist policies.

Automobile transport proved to be stiff competition for the rail-ways, particularly in regions where unsealed roads ran beside rail-way lines. As the length of unsealed roads increased, the quality of roads improved and the number of cars on the roads grew, and further arguments stressing the need to extend the railway net-work did not achieve the desired result. As an interim measure, the Railway Central Board helped alleviate the situation by introduc-ing bus and automobile services for goods transport. In the late 1930s the least profi table lines were the Abrene–Daugavpils and Jelgava–Reņģe lines, the Vidzeme branch lines and most of the 600 mm gauge railways. Th e Rīga–Rūjiena line had not yet reached its peak in economic effi ciency but the Rīga–Jelgava line was the fi rst to fall because of the competition posed by automobile transport. Ambitious projects for the construction of new lines remained on paper. Beside the Rīga–Kārsava and Kuldīga–Tu-kums railways, where construction work had already commenced, other lines that had been sketched in were Ludza–Dagda–Skai-sta, Līvāni–Preiļi–Feimaņi–Bukmuiža, Eglaine–Subate–Aknīste–Viesīte–Skaistkal ne–Bauska, and Aizpute–Kuldīga–Stende. Work had already commenced on the construction of a modern station building and the reconstruction of tracks in Rīga, and discussions had begun regarding the plan to electrify the suburban rail services.

Latvian Railways during World War II (1940–1945)Latvia was occupied in the early hours of 17 June 1940, followed by the establishment of the Soviet regime. Sovietisation also changed the Latvian railway system. On 8 July Jānis Jagars, the Minister of Transport (the government was now led by Augusts Kirhenšteins) appointed Alfrēds Spilleris, formerly an employee at a locomotive depot, as Managing Director of the Railway Cen-tral Board. Th e previous managing director, Kārlis Bļodnieks, was released from his responsibilities. Th is was followed by the termination of employment of other directors and lower ranking railway employees. Th e positions were fi lled by experts from the railway boards of the USSR.

On 26 August the occupation government carried out the di-rective to abolish the Ministry of Transport and hand the railways over to the USSR People’s Commissariat of Transport (NKPS). Latvian Railways was abolished. On 1 September the USSR NKPS Latviyskaya zheleznaya doroga (Latvian Railway) commenced operations with its management located in Rīga. Th e new author-ity comprised fi ve branches — in Rīga, Daugavpils, Gulbene, Jel-gava and Liepāja — and was a government body operating under the authority of the Soviet Union. Andrejs Vorobjovs, formerly the Director of Kirovskaya zheleznaya doroga (Kirov Railways) was appointed the Director of the Railways. From 1 October on-wards, two languages were used on the railways — Latvian and Russian. Th e systematic restructure of the Latvian railway system to correspond with the structure of the Soviet railway system be-gan on 19 October. All public service branches and divisions were established by mid-November, at which time regulations, techni-cal rules and a rail timetable had been draft ed.

Th ere were hundreds of railway employees among the thou-sands of people deported from Latvia to Siberia on 14 June 1941, including almost all the stationmasters, employees at the Central Board, road workers and general offi ce workers. Railwaymen who were deployed in the Aizsargi Regiment of the Railways, Railway-men Association or involved in any other community organisation had been arrested earlier, in 1940. A few years later, in 1944, when the German occupation regime took over from the Soviets, hun-dreds of the more prominent railway employees left the railways and fl ed into exile. And so the whole generation of railway engi-neers that had been raised in independent Latvia was destroyed.

When the German Army invaded, two weeks of warfare saw the front line cross Latvia. Th e Soviet Army retreated, taking with it almost all the rolling stock, blowing up bridges and station buildings. On 1 July the former employees of Latvian Railways renewed the Central Board of Latvian Railways in Rīga. Th e oc-cupation regime established the Military Field Railway Board,1 which issued rail schedules, organised troop trains for the army and supervised the loading and unloading of goods. On 22 Au-

gust railway management was taken over by the Northern Cen-tral Board2 and established the Railway Board.3 By the summer of 1943, the Latvian railway lines managed by the Germans and Latvians operated simultaneously. Th e Latvian transport sector was managed by the Director-General of Latvian Transport. Th e National Transport Board,4 with its headquarters in Rīga, united the railways of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, and established boards according to the German model. All leadership positions were fi lled by Germans.

During the German occupation the broad gauge rail-ways were reconstructed to standard gauge, and Čiekurkalns, Zemitāni, Šķirotava, Jelgava, Daugavpils and Rēzekne Stations were extended. New locomotive turning depots and standard depots were constructed, as well as automobile and wagon re-pair workshops, water supply and other railway equipment. A second track was constructed for some of the railway lines. In September and October 1944 the army evacuated the National Transport Management Board, railway workers and equipment to Kurzeme and later on to Germany. Station buildings on some lines were blown up and tracks were either ploughed or blown up. Having consolidated positions of troops in the Kurzeme For-tress5 in 1945 the army actively continued to use the railways in that region, among them was the Liepāja–Alsunga–Vents pils railway line, opened in December 1944.

The staff at Zasulauks Station in 1935. The photograph was a present from the staff to station master Vladimirs Priedulājs, celebrating the anniversary of his long service

Construction of the Džūkste–Bērzupe temporary railway in September 1944. This hastily-built railway, built along the front line, helped the German Army evacuate numerous echelons that had been ambushed

1 Feldeisenbahndirektion (FBD4).2 Haupteisenbahndirektion Nord (HBD).3 Eisenbahndirektion (EBD2).4 Reichsverkehrsdirektion Riga. (RVD)5 Kurzeme Fortress refers to the Red Army's blockade or encirclement of Axis forces on the

Kurzeme peninsula during the closing months of World War II

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Th e Red Army entered the territory of Latvia in the summer of 1944. With the army came the railway’s military repair and op-erations divisions: railway reconstruction boards (Upravlyenye voyenno-vosstanovykyelynyh rabot (УВВР)), army operations departments (Voyenno-ekspluatatsionnye otgyelyenya (ВЭО), special reserve locomotive fl eets, locomotive repair fl eets (Parovoznye kolonny osobovo rezerva (ОРПК) and others. Th e operation of these units was coordinated by the Latvian Railways Reconstruction Operations Group. Its task was to lay the ground-work for handing over of the railway network to the board of Latviyskaya zheleznaya doroga, which renewed operations on 5 October 1944 with Andrejs Vorobjovs (1940–1947) at the helm.

Th e railways were taken over from the army in a very short period of time. Even though Soviet literature cited extensive dam-age to the railway network, services were already resumed on all lines in the winter of 1945/1946, except for the Rīga–Rūjiena and Rīga–Ērgļi lines. In July 1946 Latvian Railway, the Leningrad and

Estonian Railway all came under the authority of the Northwest Railway Region. On 13 November a new directive was issued, defi ning the management structure of Latvian Railway. Th e rail-way was run single-handedly by the General Manager Anatolijs Bondarenko (1947–1953) and the railway administration com-prised the following divisions: Goods and Passenger Services; Traction and Rolling Stock; Roads and Structures; Communica-tions and Signalling and the following departments: Personnel; Payroll; Planning; Finance; War; the Offi ce of the Chief Account-ant; the Information, Legal, Audit and Chief Audit Offi ce as well as a Complaints Offi ce. Th e whole railway network was divided into six branches: Rīgas (1944–1992), Daugavpils (1944–1951, 1954–1992), Gulbenes (1944–1949), Jelgavas (1944–1986), Liepājas (1946–1954) and Rēzeknes (1944–1954). Each sepa-rate branch was in charge of running the station, scheduling traf-fi c on the railway lines, the carriage and locomotive depots, road and communications divisions and railway supply warehouses.

Th e political departments and the Communist Party as well as the Railway Transport Workers’ Trade Union had the role of educat-ing and motivating employees for socialist competition, person-nel recruitment, political education and supervision.

On 14 May 1953 the fi rst att empt was made to amalgamate the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian railways. Baltiyskaya zheleznaya doroga (Baltic Railway) only existed for three years; on 19 April 1956 the railways were again restructured to form separate entities. In the 1960s the railway boards of the USSR were amalgamated to eliminate the lack of unity and improve economic effi ciency. On 14 February 1963 the Board of the Prib-altiyskaya zheleznaya doroga was formed, under the leadership of the following railway managers: Nils Krasnobajevs (1953–1977), Ivans Makarenko (1977–1981), Ivans Jemecs (1981–1988) and Oļegs Mošenko (1988–1991). Th e Board also comprised a coun-cil with an advisory role regarding technical and economic mat-ters. Th e administration of the Railway Board was divided into the following branches: Roads, Civil Engineering, Locomotive Operations, Wagon Operations, Signalling and Communications, Traffi c, Electrifi cation and Energy Operations, Finance and First Department as well as Equipment, Capital Works, Personnel, Ed-ucational Institutions, Payroll, Statistics and other departments. Th e following departments worked with their own budget: the Medical Treatment Department, the Construction-Assembly Trust, Planning Offi ce, Railway Employee Supply Offi ce and the Information and Computing Centre. Th e railway was divided into seven branches: Rīga, Jelgava, Daugavpils, Kaliningrad, Esto-nia, Vilnius and Siauliai. Each branch was in charge of all railway operations: running the stations, the locomotive and carriage depots, track maintenance divisions, signalling and communica-tions divisions and energy supply authorities. Th is management structure remained the same until 1989 with only minor changes over the years, when the role of the branches was reduced.

During the era of the “building of socialism”, the railways in Latvia started to acquire the characteristics of a typical So-viet railway system. Th e opening of the electrifi ed Rīga–Dubulti section of the railway line on 15 July 1950 marked the transition to electric suburban services. Th e following electric train mod-els were constructed at RVR (Rīga Wagon Factory) and put into service: the Sr, Sr3 and beginning with the summer of 1962, the ER2. By 1992, 270.7 km of railway tracks were electrifi ed: from Rīga to Tukums, Aizkraukle, Jelgava, Skulte and Ropaži. Th is was only a small proportion of the 2350 km long railway net-work. In the post-war period the most commonly used locomo-tives were the German 52nd and 57th series, and the Soviet Su and L series steam engines that were used until the 1980s. From 1957 onwards, Latvijas dzelzceļš used diesel locomotives for shunting. Th e Zasulauks depot of Baltic Railways only received its fi rst passenger diesel locomotive, the TEP60, in 1963 — to provide transport to the “brotherly” Soviet republics. DR1 die-sel trains, built by RVR were put into service in 1964. Th e 1970s saw the decline of the use of steam engines. Th ese were replaced by the more powerful diesel engines TE3, M62 and ČME3.

Th e narrow gauge railway era ended in the 1970s. Th e lines that had been constructed during World War I and had served well over the years could not withstand the competition from automobiles in the transport of passengers as well as goods. Th e only railway line still in use is the Gulbene–Alūksne narrow gauge railway.

With forced industrialisation on the railways in Latvia came the implementation of new technology and railway tracks were altered to be able to accommodate particularly heavy-duty goods trains. Automatic blocking and dispatch systems were installed on the main lines, work was begun on the changeover from hand operated points to electric point machines, ball bearings, auto-matic coupling equipment, locomotive signalling and automatic

Th e railway during the Soviet occupation regime (1945–1991)

During the “building of socialism” the railways in Latvia acquired the typical features of the Soviet railways. 1950s

The ceremonial opening of the electrified Ķemeri–Tukums section of the line. 1966

Washing an ER2-360 electric train at Vagonu parks in the 1960s

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On 4 May 1990 the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia declared the restoration of independence; however, the rail-ways were only taken over from the USSR aft er the August 1991 coup. Th e Latvian Ministry of Transport was restored and on 26 August 1991 the Ministry declared all assets of USSR enter-prises to be the property of the Republic of Latvia and railway management was taken over by the Railway Department. On 2 September the Minister of Transport, Jānis Janovskis, issued regulation No. 99 and established the state enterprise Latvijas dzelzceļš as the entity that would resume the work of the Rail-way Central Board, originally established in 1919.

On 4 September the Ministry of Transport established the Railway Takeover Commission. Th e Latvian representatives were the Director of the Railway Department of the Ministry of Transport, Edvīns Lazdiņš, the Head of the Chief Economic Board, Valentina Nazarova, Managing Director of Latvijas dzelzceļš Staņislavs Baiko and the Director of the Rīga Railway Branch, Mihails Jagodkins. Th e takeover process was completed on 1 January 1992 and Pribaltiyskaya zheleznaya doroga ceased to exist. Latvia regained its railway network, 2364.1 km in length, with 23 000 employees which had, up until then, been subordinated to the Soviet railway system.

How Latvian Railways regained independence (1991–1992)

braking systems were all introduced in the manufacture of rolling stock, and radio communication was introduced. Unfortunately all these innovations did not prevent accidents. Th e worst train disaster in Latvia in the 20th century occurred on 16 February 1976. Th e express train Leningrad–Rīga collided with shunting locomotives at Jugla Station. More than 50 people died in the incident. Th ere was no news media coverage of the accident.

Traffi c on the railways increased every year and goods trains were given priority. Th e goods exported from Latvia were pre-dominantly goods manufactured in the new factories: chemical and light industrial products, agricultural machinery, radios, tele-pho nes, measuring instruments, motors, cement, bricks, drainage pipes, mineral fertilisers, foodstuff s, fi sh, fabrics, furniture, etc. Th e

main goods imported were ferrous and non-ferrous metals, ore, ag-ricultural machinery, raw materials for chemical and light industrial products and coal. In the last decades of the 20th century the main goods transported were petroleum products, chemicals, metals, grain and coal. Another goods category was supplies for army bases. Th e railways formed the foundation of the industrialisation of the Latvian SSR and provided access for USSR export goods via the ports of Rīga and Ventspils. Th e larger factories were all built near railways, with sidings constructed to the factories. Th is led to the so-called industrial railways with their own network of tracks, staff and rolling stock. Th e biggest sidings were constructed for enter-prises such as Liepājas metalurgs, Brocēnu Cement and Slate Fac-tory, VEF (State Electrotechnical Factory) and RVR (Rīga Wagon Factory). In the 1970s Ventspils became a USSR terminal for the handling of export potassium chloride and petroleum, while the Port of Rīga specialised in transport of shipping containers.

During the Soviet era there were regular passenger services to Moscow, Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Minsk, Kiev, Harkov and other USSR industrial and cultural centres, while direct services to Europe were stopped. Th ese were partly resumed in the 1970s. Th e stations that had been bombed during the war were replaced by new standard design station buildings (Rēzekne I and II, Cēsis, Valmiera, Sigulda, Limbaži, Ogre, Taurupe and others). Th e new Rīga Central Passenger Station building, Majori and Dubulti Sta-tions were specially designed.

An integral part of this era was the development of the so-cial sphere of the railway. For the comfort of its employees, the railway constructed and maintained its own housing resources, hospitals, medical centres, cafeterias, recreation facilities, sana-toriums, kindergartens and schools. Consequently it was consid-ered prestigious to be appointed to a position at Baltic Railway. In 1991, the Latvian branches of Baltic Railway had over 23 thou-sand employees. Latvian Railway was a part of the united USSR rail network which provided uninterrupted rail services.

The interior of the Rīga terminal (1959–1965) in the 1970s.

R a i lway l i n e s i n L at v i a