The Ministry of Transport (MoT), with co-financing from the European Union Technical Assistance, has launched a digital campaign aimed at showing young people, in an engaging and entertaining way, the opportunities for travelling around Latvia by electric train.
“Vivi electric trains are convenient and offer comfortable travel, which is important both for everyday journeys and for travelling. Through this campaign, we want to encourage young people to travel by electric train, as Latvia has so many wonderful and interesting places to see and experience, many of which are nearby and can be reached quickly. An electric train is a convenient starting point for day trips and other leisure activities, while also being environmentally friendly which is an important consideration for many young people,” explains Elīna Šimiņa-Neverovska, Deputy State Secretary of the MoT.
Train travel in Europe is very popular, and the number of travellers has continued to increase in recent years, as trains are reliable and economical and allow passengers to avoid traffic congestion on the roads. According to the latest Eurostat data, EU residents make approximately 8.7 billion train journeys per year, travelling a total of more than 444 billion passenger-kilometres. On average, an EU resident travels approximately 1,000 kilometres by train each year.
In Latvia, too, the number of rail passengers has reached record levels in recent years, reaching 21.33 million passengers last year — approximately 10%, or nearly 1.9 million more than the previous year. During the first seven months of this year alone, 12 million passengers have already travelled by train.
The convenience and comfort offered by the new Vivi electric trains have played an important role, while train punctuality remains at an excellent level, exceeding 97–98%, placing Latvia among the most punctual rail operators in Europe. A study conducted by Vivi on passenger travel habits shows that young people are actively using trains, with those aged 24 and under accounting for 25% of all train passengers.
The campaign “Next Stop – A Day Off. Get On. Get Off. Discover!”, will take place in the digital environment and feature travel stories created by influencers as well as competitions and events organised during the European Mobility Week. The campaign also aims to raise young people’s awareness of sustainable mobility and the European Union funds contribution to the development of railway infrastructure.
The campaign activities will run from August through November this year.
