Revenue of Lithuanian Railways (Lietuvos geležinkeliai, LTG) has fallen by 11 percent since the beginning of the year. The biggest impact on the decrease in freight traffic was the global economic downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Sputnik Lithuania, according to preliminary data, LTG earned EUR 327.6 million in the first nine months of the year. During the same period last year, revenues amounted to 368.4 million euros.
The biggest blow to passenger traffic was caused by the pandemic on the most popular route between Vilnius and Kaunas.
“In the first nine months of this year, 2.52 million people travelled by train, which is 28 percent less than last year. In September, the situation began to improve – 331 thousand passengers were registered”, – the press service of LTG reports.
But the company’s employees are not discouraged and hope that the current difficulties are only temporary, and after the world is able to defeat the deadly virus, life will return to its usual course and the road will revive again.
“This year is full of challenges for all our activities. At the beginning of the pandemic, we looked at both very pessimistic and somewhat more optimistic business scenarios, and the results of September can be measured with restraint and optimism. I believe that the performance curves will only grow”, – said Mantas Bartushka, General Director of LTG.