First Elron Panter

While the order for Pasažieru vilciens is running out, the contract for a batch of 16 three-car dual-voltage (3 + 25 kV) RegioPanter EMUs for Elron is coming into focus. First, a contract was signed with Škoda Group for six trains in February 2021, followed by an option for ten more in September 2022.

Final assembly began in March 2023 in Ostrava and the first unit of the Type 21Ev was transported to Plzeň in January this year. Once the tests are completed, the train will be sent from Plzeň to Estonia. As with the Pasažieru vilciens contract, these transports will be made by road instead of rail due to the war in Ukraine. The units will be assembled from the separately delivered cars and main components at the Riga Vagonu parks depot and then continue on the rail to Tallinn; the first two RegioPanters are due to arrive here in late spring and will then start test runs.

The entire batch is scheduled for delivery in 2024 - 2026. First part will be long-distance trains (Pikamaarongid) with 236 seats, 32 of which in first class. The first six trains are to be delivered by the end of this year and then next year they are to be used on the Tallinn - Tartu line. Five more units are to follow in 2025.

The second version will be regional trains (Regionaalrongid) with a total of 263 seats and second class only. All five are due to arrive in Estonia in 2026 and will serve routes in the east of the country. 

Lauri Betlem, chairman of Elron's board of directors, adds that the arrival of the RegioPanters will gradually resolve the shortage of trains and allow the expansion of the timetable to start from 2025. "The past decade has seen a very sharp increase in the number of rail passengers in Estonia, and now we are in a situation where the mobility needs of passengers exceed the capacity of our fleet. Trains from Škoda will start to fill this gap and after the electrification of the Tallinn - Tartu line by the infrastructure owner Eesti Raudtee, the first units will start to transport passengers in the direction of the south-east of the country."