Illegally-closed Lithuania-Latvia cross-border railway reopened

[John Ashworth]

Illegally-closed cross-border railway reopened

The reinstated 19 km railway between Mažeikiai in Lithuania and Rengė in Latvia was officially reopened February 15, when ministers and officials from both countries attended a ceremony to mark the departure of a train carrying oil to Latvia from Orlen’s Lithuanian refinery.

Lithuania’s vertically-integrated railway LG had closed and dismantled the link... The closure was ostensibly because the line was in poor condition, traffic levels were not sustainable and other cross-border routes had spare capacity.However, Orlen had considered transferring its business from LG to another operator, and closing the line meant that any competitor would need to use a much longer route to access the refinery. Orlen lodged a complaint with the European Commission, which ruled that LG had abused its dominant market position...