Baltic States – CIS, Estonia, Railways, Transport

“There is some point in it for passenger transport but for cargo transport, where the main direction is East-West not North-South, it would ruin our business,” he said in an interview in ETV’s morning programme.

On Tuesday, an economic forum opens in Tallinn that brings together representatives of ten railways and delegations from 25 states. One of the most important speakers of the forum "Strategic partnership 1520– Baltic region“ is Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin.

Simmermann said that the main aim of the forum is to discuss possibilities of exiting the economic crisis. “Where to find cargo and how to be more effective than other types of transport,” he said.

Although the economic crisis has reduced cargo transport everywhere, Simmermann says that actually there is plenty of cargo. “We see trucks lined up at the border. We just have to offer them a better and cheaper service,” he said.

Simmermann is convinced that railway cargo transport has a future. “When we look at the state of roads here, in Latvia, Lithuania and Russia, then it is certainly better to transport cargo by railway.”