Orlen Lietuva to carry its 1st cargo using rebuilt Renge section

LG says 45 railcars will take 2,700 tons of light oil products from Orlen Lietuva to the Latvian border. Latvia's railway company Latvijas Dzelzcels (Latvian Railways) will take the cargo over on the border and transport it to Riga.

The rebuilding of the 19-km railway section between Lithuania's Mazeikiai and Renge, in Latvia, which was dismantled over a decade ago, was completed in late December. The rebuilding cost 9.4 million euros and was carried out by Vitras-S, a railway construction and repairs company owned by Estonia's railway services group Skinest Rail.

Orlen Lietuva, the Mazeikiai-based oil refiner owned by Polish oil group Orlen, will now be able to take a shorter path to carry its product. Up until now, they have been carried from Latvia via Siauliai and Joniskis.

The track was rebuilt in line with LG's commitment to the European Commission, which in late 2017 imposed a fine of almost 28 million euros on the state railway company for hindering competition in the rail freight market.

Dismantled in 2008, the railway line was in the past used by the Mazeikiai-based oil refinery Orlen Lietuva, which is owned by Poland's Orlen, to transport its oil products to Latvia.