Eesti Raudtee


Eesti Raudtee or EVR is the national railway infrastructure company of Estonia. It owns a network of of broad gauge railway throughout the country, including the used by the Elron commuter trains around Tallinn. Its sole shareholder is the Government of Estonia.

History

After the independence of Estonia, the state-owned company Eesti Raudtee was founded on January 1, 1992, as the national railway company of Estonia. On August 31, 2001, 66% of the stock in the company was sold by the government to Baltic Rail Services, a consortium of Rail World, Jarvis, Railroad Development Corporation, and OÜ Ganiger Invest, led by Estonian entrepreneurs Jüri Käo and Guido Sammelselg.
In 2002, Eesti Raudtee introduced a new logo along with a corporate identity during its 10th anniversary. The new logo was the two letters "E" and "R" that are coloured red and are merged each other to symbolise the company's name.
Following an election in 2003, the new government changed the rules on open access rights and capped the level of track charges, which reduced the railway's viability. The railway was bought back by the state in a transaction completed in January 2007. In 2009 two new EVR wholly owned subsidiaries were formed: EVR Infra, responsible for managing the railway infrastructure, and EVR Cargo, which took over the parent company's freight operations. This was to comply with European Union legislation. In 2012 freight operator AS EVR Cargo was separated from Eesti Raudtee and EVR Infra was renamed Eesti Raudtee.