How would the train from Białystok to Kaunas work?
A standard gauge (1435mm), non-electrified line runs from Białystok to Kaunas, via Suwałki (PL), Šeštokai (LT) and Marijampolė (LT). It crosses the border between Trakiszki (PL) and Mockava (LT). A direct service between Białystok and Kaunas ran at weekends before the Corona pandemic, but with the idea of making this train a daily connection from 2021. The weekend service was run by Polregio S.A. Our proposal is to re-introduce the through service from Białystok to Kaunas, and to run that service daily.
What rolling stock is available?
The service was run using SA133 diesel multiple units built by Pesa and owned by Polregio S.A. At least 5 of these DMUs have been approved to run the service to Kaunas (numbers 001, 002, 011, 019, 020) – that is a pool of DMUs adequately large to be able to provide at least one train each way each day.
Are there alternatives for the Białystok to Kaunas route?
There is no Lithuanian operator that has suitable passenger trains to run this service, but there is an alternative to Polregio S.A. on the Polish side – PKP InterCity. In the video at the bottom of this page you can see the Connecting Europe Express arriving in Kaunas – carriages hauled by a PKP IC Pesa Gama locomotive. PKP InterCity owns 10 of these locomotives. An alternative means to operate the route to Kaunas would hence be to extend a Warszawa-Suwałki IC or TLK service as far as Kaunas (TLK31102 / TLK13103 or IC 81102 / IC 18103).
Do you have any photos of the trains that used to run?
The main photo used on this site is © Sebastian Wilken – TrainTracks.eu blog and can be used if credit is given. The highest resolution image available is here. There are 2 Creative Commons Licensed images of the trains on Flickr by Philip Richards – at Trakiszki and at Suwałki. There are images on Wikimedia Commons here and here. In all cases please pay attention to the license conditions!