TRAIN AND AUTOMOTIVE FACILITIES IN THE LATVIA SSR/TARTU-TALLINN HIGHWAY/IMPRESSIONS OF LATVIA VS ESTONIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500120013-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 4, 2011
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: August 7, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/03/04: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500120013-1
r
.1, S, Officials Only
GOKFIDFNTLAL
SECURITY INFORI`;ATI0:4
INFORMATION REPORT
Train and. Automotive Facilities in the Latvia SSit/
Tartu-Tallinn Higtr,+ay/Impressions of Latvia ve
Estonia
DATE DISrR. / Aug 1953
NO. OF PAGES 2
NO. OF ENCLS.
SUPP. TO
REPORT tr0.
1. "The fo:llarint; e ourrimts on Latvian transportation data through mid-January 1953.
Train Service
2. 'The Latvian railways function satisfactorily. Trains run on schedule as
discipline is very strict; an engine driver almost goes to prison if hi.e train
is five minutes later. The railway carriages are very old and very dirty -
there are bugs in many of them. Mere are no first class carriages: only
second and third class. The second clean is really a sleeper; it has up-
holstered seats and for the night the passenger is issued a blanket and a
pillow -which are quite clean and decent. The third class has hard wooden
benchea; their backs can be lifted to form sleeping shelves by night. It
costs 64 rubles to travel from Riga to Liepaja second class. The trip takes
eight hours.
3. ~~no recent railway accidents as the authorities pay great attention
During Latviats independence everything Was cleaner, of course, the carriages
much more comfortable, and the fare much cheaper. Row, in spite of the
comparatively higlh t'ures, p? !_r ic.:?. i./ r.,r r - r.;lier'e are Perhaps only ten in the whole of
Liepaja? O;irc'?:ii.y r: L! (A ::, d. to private car owners, they buy it on
the black mar .- -ire r ;,, . r r-i i) arGd .i to questi Tin are ever asked about where
he car own=-r UsuaL2;y it is obtained from a sailor who steals
it from his hi. r, . Tbs. - i.he', most usual private car - is pretty
economical to drive l(}:) km cosy.,- about 9 rubles at black market prices.
OfficiaLly petrol coats 2 rurLes per !litre; bought black,the price is roughly
half. The th:.c:~,irr, 5a1.) r d;c.rc not ask much for fear of being denounced.
12. "The road between. Tartu and. Tal.Lira, 16', now covered with asphalt. This was not
the cane earlier , fr. Tallinn there were less Soviets in the streets
than in Liepaja and Riga. Fev new buildings could be seen, certainly less than
in Riga where building activities arelvery slack. Very little is built in
Liepaja. In January 3.953 the foundation was laid for a Culture Palace on Rozu
I.qukums (Ro&.3 Squar.e). The Oblast Committee is also to be housed in this buiLi-
txpg. The con9rxuction is x source ofl additional income to many workers in
Liepaja; especially the fire brigade men who work there whenever possible.
"Breed in Tallinn was of be-,;ter quality than in Pius,, buns cost 80 kopeks - 1 ruble
splece. Goode In the shops were also) more plentiful than in Latvia: kitchen
utensils could be boaght though the .4tvian shops were empty; some woman`s
handiwork vas s tsplayed in t:-re shoprrindows for sale; one could buy spokes for
bicycle wheels - uxiobtainable in Latvia. Raincoats were in a much larger supply -
in Latvia. they are imported from Estonia and are very scarce. Another thing
not.obtaiuablc, ar,. Liepe-ja. were tennial shoaa mauuA(actitced in Riga which could be
bad i'Yaply ir,. Tai'.:-n. The Tallinn woman appeared nicely dressed.
"OCOaltiaaea in the:, iis-t:anian countryside seemed to be inferior to those in Latvia.
The 'crops eeem^s poorer - probably because the actl in Estonia is inferior. Fruit
'was also more scarce and more expensive, apples cost 10-12 rubles the kilogram
instead of 4 ruhleni as in Latvia in August, 1951."
- sadl -
C O I ~ W . M E W T LULUS C".ICIAIS ONLY
Se curia ?y, .IufC ksaation
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/03/04: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500120013-1