Belarus interested in resuming passenger railway travel with Baltic countries - Transport Ministry

MINSK. June 27 (Interfax) - The Belarusian side is interested in resuming passenger railway travel with Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland, the Belarusian Transport Ministry said in a statement.

"Belarus is interested in resuming passenger railway travel with Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. Passenger railway travel with Belarus has been suspended by these countries since March 2020 owing to the coronavirus pandemic. With the improvement of the epidemiological situation and the lifting of restrictions on the movement of Belarusian citizens, the country has repeatedly proposed resuming international passenger traffic, but to no avail. Travel has been restored since the middle of last summer in the European Union countries, except for Poland-Lithuania," the Transport Ministry noted.

According to the ministry, transportation between Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland accounted for about 20% of Belarus's total international traffic in the pre-pandemic period, thereby indicating the demand for these destinations.

"Thus, the number of passengers transported by railway reached 380,000 travelers with Lithuania in 2019, 225,000 with Poland, and 20,000 with Latvia," the ministry's press service said.

"Following the introduction of visa-free entry for citizens of Lithuania and Latvia in April this year, about 88,000 visa-free tourists have already visited Belarus, indicating a high demand for transport links with Belarus for residents of the EU countries," the Transport Ministry stressed.

Meantime, according to the ministry, there are daily bus trips from Minsk to Vilnius, to Riga, and to Warsaw, where passenger traffic is constantly increasing.