Friends of the Rail Forum

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...