Railroad romance - With 191 tons to independence - Estonia's railroads
Estonia goes by rail. 26 years after the declaration of independence, the history of the railroads is a success story. Passenger numbers are steadily increasing, the only two railroad lines to foreign countries via Narva and Voru/Koidula are used for freight traffic to and from Russia in reciprocal import and export traffic and even the Tallinn-Saint Petersburg-Moscow passenger train, which was temporarily discontinued, is running daily again. Estonia has managed to step out of the shadow of its big neighbor to the east, at least in the rail sector.
If you want to see a General Electric C30-7 in operation, you don't have to travel to Australia or America - but to the densely wooded areas of Estonia. In the search for a replacement for the Russian locomotives, they found what they were looking for on the world market in the USA of all places and drove the 191-ton diesel monster to independence. Railroads from countries including the USA, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, the Czech Republic and - more recently - even from Russia again roll over Estonian broad-gauge tracks. A paradise for railroad enthusiasts!
Broadcasting on 16th of September 2024 at 11.30am on SWR/ARD
Music: POPVIRUS Library