Off Since August, Return Not Guaranteed
Riga's oldest trolleybus line has been suspended since August 2026 due to street construction, with no guarantee of its return to the original route. The city's transit authority is citing budget constraints and driver shortages as factors in the decision.
Why it matters
Public transit disruptions impact the daily lives of urban commuters and reflect broader municipal infrastructure challenges.
Riga trolleybus 1, the city’s oldest line, has been parked for two months. And nobody’s promising it comes back the way you remember it.
The route, running since 1947 between Valmieras iela and Pētersalas iela, has been off since 10 August 2026 for the Ģertrūdes iela rebuild. Rīgas satiksme says it can’t yet confirm the same route returns when the works wrap in early 2027.
Maybe. Rīgas satiksme told LTV’s 4. studija that public transport will return to Ģertrūdes iela, but it can’t say yet whether that means the old Valmieras-to-Pētersalas line. Could be a bus. Could be a trolleybus.
“Ģertrūdes iela residents definitely won’t be left without public transport,” said Baiba Bartaševiča-Feldmane, who runs public relations at the city carrier.
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