Riga residents await answers on suspended trolleybus routes
Saturday 10th October 2026 on 12:15 in
Latvia
Riga’s oldest trolleybus route remains suspended, while another no longer runs at weekends, prompting concerns about when service will return. LSM reported that the changes affect residents who rely on direct connections across the city.
Riga has 50 bus routes, 22 trolleybus routes and seven tram routes, carrying about half a million passengers each day. Some routes, including historic ones, have been suspended for long periods or have not returned.
Route 1, established in 1947, connected Pētersala near the Daugava with Valmieras Street in the Latgale suburb and the Avoti neighbourhood, crossing the city centre. It has no equivalent direct alternative on some sections, and residents use it for daily travel.
The route was suspended in 2021 because of renovation work on Ģertrūdes Street and resumed two years later. It has been suspended again since August 10. More than 300 people have signed a petition on Manabalss.lv calling for its restoration.
Riga municipality says public transport will return to Ģertrūdes Street after the renovation, but it has not confirmed whether route 1 will run again between Valmieras Street and Pētersalas Street. Baiba Bartaševiča-Feldmane, head of public relations at Riga municipal transport company Rīgas satiksme, said the works were continuing and the company would announce plans as they approached completion. She said residents would not be left without public transport, and that changes to bus or trolleybus routes were possible.
The renovation is expected to finish by early next year.
Residents have also raised concerns about route 13, which no longer runs on Saturdays and Sundays. The direct service had been used by people travelling to Riga Central Market on weekend mornings; passengers now have to change vehicles. Bartaševiča-Feldmane said the company had found that route 13 was used heavily for commuting on weekdays, while weekend passenger numbers were low. The company has no current plans to restore weekend service and says it needs to assess financial and staffing resources, including driver availability.