DR1 units in Latvia.

[Misery guts]

Does anyone know if Soviet era DR1 units are still in regular service in Latvia?

 

[stadler]

Does anyone know if Soviet era DR1 units are still in regular service in Latvia?

Yes they are still fully in service on all of the non electrified routes. It was only the old RVR ER2 EMUs that got replaced by the new Skoda electric trains. They still have the RVR DR1 DMUs in service and they will be for quite a while longer.

 

[Misery guts]

Yes they are still fully in service on all of the non electrified routes. It was only the old RVR ER2 EMUs that got replaced by the new Skoda electric trains. They still have the RVR DR1 DMUs in service and they will be for quite a while longer.

Thanks for the information

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Stadler 2233, DR1AM-291 and DR1AC-311 DMU's at Riga main station, Latvia, 06.02.2025

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

Yes they are still fully in service on all of the non electrified routes. It was only the old RVR ER2 EMUs that got replaced by the new Skoda electric trains. They still have the RVR DR1 DMUs in service and they will be for quite a while longer.

Although one train pair on the Riga-Valga now runs with a PESA 730 ML DMU.

 

[ricohallo]

Are the RVR ER2 units now completely gone? Or do they still run some services?

 

[stadler]

Are the RVR ER2 units now completely gone? Or do they still run some services?

No unfortunately none left in service. They are completely withdrawn from passenger service now. The last passenger service was towards the end of last year. Some can still be seen in sidings and depots and they do occasional empty runs to keep them operational until they get sold or scrapped. But none in passenger service any more. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, all have some ER2 units (and similar ER9 units too) left in passenger service.

 

[ricohallo]

No unfortunately none left in service. They are completely withdrawn from passenger service now. The last passenger service was towards the end of last year. Some can still be seen in sidings and depots and they do occasional empty runs to keep them operational until they get sold or scrapped. But none in passenger service any more. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, all have some ER2 units (and similar ER9 units too) left in passenger service.

That's a shame, gotta travel a bit further then!

 

[valentaman]

belarus has plenty and a daily bus from Dagavpils to Orsha will get you them comfortably!

 

[ricohallo]

belarus has plenty and a daily bus from Dagavpils to Orsha will get you them comfortably!

Would love to as I have a trip to the Baltic area planned in March but I don't think the Belarussians would be too keen on the Ukrainian stamps in my passport...

 

[gingerheid]

belarus has plenty and a daily bus from Dagavpils to Orsha will get you them comfortably!

ER2s are lovely, but there's no train amazing enough to be worth risking being accused of spying and kept until you're needed for a prisoner swap!

 

[Misery guts]

ER2s are lovely, but there's no train amazing enough to be worth risking being accused of spying and kept until you're needed for a prisoner swap!

Agree 100%

 

[valentaman]

Would love to as I have a trip to the Baltic area planned in March but I don't think the Belarussians would be too keen on the Ukrainian stamps in my passport...

i have 4 ukrainian stamps from 2024 and visited belarus aswell! they had no issues with that but obviously its your decision but id highly recommend belarus as its a amazing experiuence cheap as chips!

 

[stadler]

I have recently visited both Belarus and Russia. It is perfectly safe as long as you are just an ordinary person and you stay away from political discussion. If you are public figure that openly criticises Belarus and Russia then it is probably best avoided. But for your average ordinary person it is perfectly safe. You are not going to have any trouble if you use your common sense and obey their laws. The thing i find funny is you are far more likely to be arrested in Dubai but yet nobody seems to ever tell people not to go there. Dubai arrests dozens of foreign tourists every year for the most minor little things. You are far more likely to be arrested in Dubai than you are in Belarus or Russia.

But if you want somewhere other than Belarus or Russia to find them then Almaty in Kazakhstan or Tashkent in Uzbekistan are options. They both have some ER9 on their suburban trains which are identical to the ER2 apart from being AC powered rather than DC powered. It is quite easy to get to both cities nowadays and even budget airlines like Wizz Air fly to both places.

Or an even easier one to get to is Georgia which still has some ER2 units left. I visited there not long ago. I believe they only have one ER2 left in service in its original form. The rest have been modernised and had new cabs put on (just like Latvia did with some of their ER2 units) so they look a little different.

Armenia is also a fairly easy place to get to. They still some ER2 units left. Even some in their original format. Although on my last visit not long ago the services were worked by a mixture of old ER2 units and modern EP2D units so you may need to check a few services to find an ER2 in service. But on the bonus they still currently have ER2 units that are completely unmodernised and are in their original format which is very rare nowadays.

Azerbaijan had some ER2 as well last time i went but i think the Stadler Kiss trains may have replaced them by now. Some sources suggest they may still have four in service but it is difficult to verify. So this may be another place to find them but i am not entirely sure.

 

[nwales58]

Stadler, this is for anyone whose nationality is british. Agreed most people will be OK, but if th authorities are looking for a pawn the next brit may be it.

If the worst happens, british consular assistance will be close to zero.

I was on the edge of a situation in Algeria many years ago. It was more frightening than people may think.