Riga - Transport

Transport

Riga, with its central geographic position and concentration of population, has always been the infrastructural hub of Latvia. Several national roads begin in Riga, and European route E22 crosses Riga from the east and west, while the Via Baltica crosses Riga from the south and north.

As a city situated by a river, Riga also has several bridges. The oldest standing bridge is the Railway Bridge, which is also the only railroad-carrying bridge in Riga. The Stone Bridge connects Old Riga and Pārdaugava; the Island Bridge connects Maskavas Forštate and Pārdaugava via Zaķusala; and the Shroud Bridge connects Old Riga and Pārdaugava via Ķīpsala. In 2008, the first stage of the new Southern Bridge route across the Daugava was completed, and was opened to traffic on 17 November.

The Southern Bridge is currently the biggest construction project in the Baltic states in 20 years, and it is to reduce traffic congestion in the city centre. Another major construction project is the planned Riga Northern Transport Corridor, which is scheduled to commence in 2010.

The Freeport of Riga facilitates cargo and passenger traffic by sea. Sea ferries currently connect Riga to Stockholm and Lübeck, operated respectively by Tallink and DFDS Tor Line. The Latvian-flagged ferries MS Romantika and MS Silja Festival are located in the Riga Passenger Terminal.

Riga has one active airport that serves commercial airlines — the Riga International Airport (RIX), built in 1973. Renovation and modernization of the airport was completed in 2001, coinciding with the 800th anniversary of the city. In 2006, a new terminal extension was opened. Work on an extension of the runway was completed in October 2008, and the airport is now able to accommodate large aircraft such as the Airbus A340, Boeing 747, 757, 767 and 777. The annual number of passengers has grown from 310,000 in 1993 to over 4 million in 2009. It has now become the largest airport in the Baltic States, and there are plans to construct a new terminal to cope with increasing passenger numbers.

Riga was also home to an air base during the Cold War — Rumbula Air Base. Another airport, the Spilve Airport, is a former civilian and military airport in Riga located 5 km (3.11 mi) from Riga city centre, with active aircraft operating as early as the First World War. It became the first international airport of Riga in the 1930s, which, from 1937 linked the capital city with Helsinki via Tallinn, Warsaw via Vilnius, Berlin and Moscow via Kaunas. After World War II and the Soviet occupation, it was rebuilt into a 1950s-era airport, the hub of Aeroflot. A new ring taxiway and restored surface was added. The airport was closed for regular flights in the late 1980s. The terminal building still remains as a notable example of Stalin's neoclassical architecture.

Public transportation in the city is provided by Rīgas Satiksme which operates a large number of trams, buses and trolleybuses on an extensive network of routes across the city. In addition, many private owners operate minibus services. Riga is connected to the rest of Latvia by trains operated by the national railway company Passenger Train, whose headquarters are in Riga. There are also international rail links to Russia and plans to revive passenger railroad traffic with Estonia. Riga International Coach Terminal provides domestic and international connections by coach. Current plans envisage a trans-European rail link from Tallinn to Warsaw via Riga financed by the European Union, with the first phase to be completed by 2013.