From Saturday, April 1, Lux Express will add an early morning bus to the Tartu-Riga route starting at 05:25, which will conveniently take the people of Tartu and Southern Estonia to Riga for the start of the working day or for the onward journey to Riga airport.

Also, one departure will be added in the Riga-Tartu direction, departing at 14:15 from Riga bus station (13:30 from Riga airport). With this change, the daily connections between Tartu and Riga will increase to three in each direction.

According to Lux Express’ international business manager Rait Remmel, the increase in the number of connections between Tartu and Riga makes the journey more stress-free for a person starting a trip from Tartu: "The possibility to take a bus directly to Riga airport and return home after the trip is a much more convenient solution than to do it through Tallinn or with a personal car."

According to the schedule, the journey time from Tartu to Riga bus station is 3 hours and 40 minutes (3.50-3.55 for peak hour departures). The travel time from Tartu to Riga airport, depending on the time of departure, is 4 hours and 25 minutes. Buses also stop in Valga, and some departures have a stop in Valmiera (Latvia).

 The deputy mayor of Tartu, Raimond Tamm, said that a good transport connection with the city of Riga and the airport there is extremely important for Tartu and, more generally, for the whole of Southern Estonia, considering the interests of both business and leisure travellers. "Of course, wider opportunities to get to Tartu are also very important for our foreign guests; improving external connections is especially necessary because Tartu will become the European capital of culture next year and we expect a large number of foreign guests to take part in the program," added Tamm.

The deputy mayor emphasized that the more frequent bus connection with Riga will become a reality thanks to the effective cooperation between the city of Tartu and Lux Express and expressed hope that the possibility of a comfortable bus ride will be well received by passengers.

Tartu-Riga timetable from April 1:

Tartu bus station -> Riga 05:25*, 09:05*, 18:30

Riga bus station -> Tartu 09:00, 14:15, 18:45

Departures from Riga airport: 13:30, 17:45

* Stops at Riga airport