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CEO Merike Saks said that for the first time ever, the number of passengers carried by Elron crossed the 8 mln mark last year. 

The busiest month for the company last year was October, when over 730,000 boardings were recorded. Four routes --  Tallinn-Paldiski, Tallinn-Riisipere-Turba, Tallinn-Tartu and Tallinn-Aegviidu -- saw over a million boardings during the year each. 

"Express routes have displayed significant growth, with the number of passengers between Tallinn and Viljandi increasing by 50% on year and between Tallinn and Narva by 40%. People have started to give significant preference to travel by train also in Johvi, Kivioli and Rakvere," Saks said.

The CEO said that to meet increased demand, Elron added an additional express departure on the Narva route.

"We've been increasing frequencies as much as possible every year -- there are more possibilities to board a train now also for clients wishing to travel to Keila, Paldiski and Aegviidu during the daytime, and also Turba got a train connection thanks to investments by the state," Saks said.

At the beginning of January a year passed since the introduction of ticket machines on Elron trains, and by now over half of passengers use ticket machines. 

Ticket revenue of Elron in 2019 amounted to 18.6 mln euros, 17% more than in 2018. 

Eesti Liinirongid AS, which operates under the Elron brand, is a state-owned public transport company that provides passenger services with diesel and electric trains on all of Estonia's domestic train routes.