Would you ride Latvia’s SOVIET EXPRESS train?
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- Опубліковано 29 тра 2024
- Time to head to Latvia for a ride on one of their Soviet-era DR1A units. This actually turned out to be a surprisingly nice experience, thanks to a low price and comfortable interior.
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Journey Details:
Origin: Valga
Destination: Rīga-Pasažieru
Company: Pasažieru Vilciens (Vivi)
Train: PV DR1A
Accommodation: Second Class Seat (2nd)
Distance: 167 kilometres / 104 miles
Price: €5.80 (£5.00 / $6.30)
Time: 2 hours 42 minutes, arrived on-time
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As a Canadian I find it kind of funny to see that these Soviet trains are considered old when most of our passenger fleet was made in the 1940s
budd don't break
I haven't been on Via Rail but I've been on Amtrak. It's okay, but the whole infrastructure feels like a backwater European town.
There's a single platform at the station between Vancouver and Portland and the train runs 3 times a day. So if you're there after hours, you're stuck. You must be joking...
Them Budd cars were built like frickin tanks, and have been rebuilt several times, still have a lot of life in them
LRC's are from the 70s and have also had a few rebuilds, but some of those are starting to look a little tired...
American passenger trains are 💩 tier
Lol
I can't help but notice that those seats, have just been salvaged from 90s era coach busses, the way those arm rests work was the biggest giveaway...
Yup as a Latvian I gave to say it is some local know-how 😃
I thought they were off something else when he said all the power recline buttons were not working . But I think the feature that lets you edge away from your neighbor was a good one. ...
These seats are german-made, by Vogelsitze company. The model is old, though, and lacking some functionality for some reason. Unfortunately, not every person's back feels ok after sitting for a couple of hours in these seats. Mine doesn't
that was something i was also thinking, bus seats xd
Exactly what I thought, I remember the option to slide into the aisle on bus school trips, only place I ever encountered this option
Fun fact: I believe the passenger locomotives in Half-Life 2 are based on the DR-1A.
I always thought it was a copy of ER-2 that changed for making cinema effect (???)
It is
Yup. Half-life has its own wiki, and there is an extensive article on trains.
I thought they looked similar
u are not far off hl universe is based around soviet citys and playing half life gives that old soviet feeling e specially cars and trains !
Yesses, Latvia mentioned🇱🇻🇱🇻🇱🇻
What the heck is same level boarding on a train🇱🇻🇱🇻👌
that's what a few 16Ev's have on a few platforms around Riga🤣
@@SGtravelsEU it was a joke
the thing we have on the new Škoda electric trains near Rīga
@@NaurisStaltmanis What, I thought they are pulled out of service for repairs
@vulc1 well, some of them (mostly when something goes wrong, i think), but 10 or 15 are carrying passengers around
We do have new trains, but those old ones will always be in my heart since childhood
Valga to Riga, a journey of 2.5hrs or so, cost £5.
In the UK, a similar length journey from a small town to the capital, London, would cost at least £50.
We are ripped off in the UK.
You can't just compare prices without comparing incomes of households tho
I bet you get paid a bit more than 5 euro an hour in UK.
Even in russia where typical income is 2-4 EUR per hour same distance and time train trip costs 6 EUR.
@@gachimuchienjoyerbut they definitely aren't paid 10x the hourly rate, my sister earns about 2,5 to 3x of my income
Well, here we need to look at who else has higher salaries and prices for other services. For example, in Latvia we have 1200 euros, but many receive a salary of 600-800 euros.
I think gasoline and food cost the same here
I love these old trains. They have some kind of romance. And I often did use the opurtunity to have a smoke in the lavatory at open window catching warm summer breeze.
Oh these and other soviet trains do have the level boarding, you just need a high platform 😂 which isn’t a joke btw-in the ussr the platforms were standardized: one type for high (typically within big cities) and one for low (rest of the country). For the high platforms they will just close the stairs in the tambour and voila you kinda get a step-free entrance.
The only reason why there is level boarding at Valga is because of the Estonian standard platform... it looks cool tbh, but you will never see anything like that in Latvia...😅
As I remember, at one point in Estonia the trains had half of the doors for low platform and the others for high platform. Station platforms were also either high or low and on each station the appropriate doors opened. I was really young at that time tho
Latvia does have same level boarding as in Estonia but not country wide, only at some bigger stations sadly… and Jurmala direction… but all commuter rail will have level boarding soon (except Rail Baltica stations which is a separate project)
Very progressive and genious the mechanic into the stairs from over 50 years 👍🏼👍🏼
@@mratp123hahaha another estonian with a superiority complex:D dont worry, most train platforms in latvia are currently undergoing modernisation works - this video will become historical soon enough
Amazing to finally see a video from my country! Will be interested in seeing more trains like the ER2s, DR1AC's or Skoda 16Ev's
Yup, Latvia still has the "good" old soviet trains. We still have some Dr1a on some route in Lithuania, but they'll get phased out someday soon.
Wrong about poles - these are from 1980's when line has been electrified in short section between Riga/Zemitāni (then Oškalni) and Garkalne (then Ropaži). Then USSR collapsed, electrification works has been stopped and catenary dismantled. Just poles remained. There are plans to re-electrify this line, but currently no works are in progress. Althought other, already eletrified, lines are under renovation so they can be switched from 3kV DC to 25kV AC in future.
Nice video. Those seats are actually bus seats and you can see similar ones (well, probably not any longer) on the German busses like Mercedes, Setra or MAN from the 1990s. The button that pushes the seat into the aisle makes sense on busses on longer routes, as the shoulder space is quite limited there and few people walk down the aisle when driving. That also explains the small size of the table, while the hole in it may be tha place where the ashtray used to be placed (yes, long time ago there were ashtrays on busses and trains and smoking was allowed - not a pretty picture).
Looks like those seats are from the German company Vogel.
I actually remember these exact seats from school trips and summer camp in germany :D
@maxart13392 yeah, looks indeed familiar. On a side note, I’m so glad that smoking was banned from buses, restaurants and hotel rooms. Fun fact, another thing where people feared humanity would stop existing when smoking ban comes into effect… 😂
They actually still use this exact pattern in pretty new busses where I live (in Germany). 😅
They did look very small when installed in a train .
I travelled on exactly this line once on a two-day trip: from Riga to Sigulda in the morning and back again in the evening the next day. I think trains like this are great, even if they are long outdated and it's time to replace them. They should be preserved as a museum and continue to be used for special trips. The multiple unit I travelled in had a 3+2 layout. The speed is more like a sight-seeing train, but with the beautiful scenery, that's welcome! The journey back in time was well worth it.
As soon as RailBaltica is completed, I hope that a direct night train from Berlin to Tallinn with stops in Warsaw, Kaunas/Vilnius and Riga will be introduced, as well as daytime connections. Travelling the Baltic States without a plane or intercity bus is a dream!
It would probably be a frequent service
In the 90s you could travel from Lithuania to Estonia via Latvia with no change of train on the Balti Ekspress. Google "balti ekspress talinn vikipedia" for the Wikipedia article on the service.
This Soviet trains will work forever and until their death. Funny thing is that Latvia had few brand new trains this winter... aaaand they failed, badly.
Latvia is a beautiful country. Ive rode this train (and some others😊) last august from Cēsis. By the way: Cēsis is one of the prettiest cities in the Baltics! Great vid!
Clearly ... you say so just because you didnt visit my town Kuldiga ...
@@edzus100 Kuldīga is absolutely gorgeous. As most of our small cities and countryside are. Unless it's late autumn or early spring, then I can see how it would feel slightly depressing, as it's just dirt everywhere😅
@@edzus100Kuldiga needs a massive renovation project but yea it could be nice.
Latvia def isnt a beutiful country
It's beautiful in the spring and the summer. Gotta say, though, as a latvian: latvian winter is depressing. Whatever feeling of beauty you get from the snow instantly disappears when you have to spend multiple months stuck inside with no sun.
10:33 are actually poles placed there during electrification just before the fall of the USSR which was planned to go all the way to Sigulda. Officially it is known that trail runs were conducted up to the station Garkalne, at that time known as Ropaži. During the fall of the USSR there was no money for this project and it is said that among the many problems during that time parts of the network were stolen.
I travelled through the Baltics last September and also took this train, but from Riga to Valga. It was a pleasant ride ^^
I'm happy you made a video about it
Rail Baltica construction site is impressive, redoing the entire Riga station (which isn't small)
And it will get 1435mm rail running into the Baltic states again!
It's a NATO funded military project to move tanks and materiel into the Baltics for war with Russia. Dual use military-civilian project.
@@eustacemcgoodboy9702Like every rail road 😅
No, not NATO. Its funded by EU
The sideways sliding seats can be found in some travelbuses. The smal tables are also typical for busseats. So i think that they indeed are busseats.
Exactly, I was about to write the same thing. Many long distance (4+ hours) Flixbus buses have those seats (minus the funky color scheme), at least here in Scandinavia. They are less common on nicer long distance buses, as they don't convert into flat-ish beds.
Good deal on a train slowly looking time go by... There's always something even romantic about these old trains. 👍
Thanks for this cool video! I'd like to notice, DR-1A is a remotorized version of DR-1 DMU. Initially it had diesel engines made by located in the city of Leningrad the Zvezda (Star) plant. These engines were created for soviet small military ships and civilian hydrofoils. Later they were adapted for DMUs. It was a nightmare of train drivers and mechanics who had to maintain these diesels. Engines were unreliable and voracious. Train crew had to add a lot of motor oil every day. During acceleration these engines smoked like a steam loco. They had very primitive crankcase ventilation system, its outlets were located on the bottom of the engine room. So, diesel was literally spitting oil down on the rails. The transmission was also unreliable. So, I'm very glad for the Latvian operator of these trainsets, they made the right decision to remotorize them with German MTU diesel engines.
There is someone who posts under the name "@diiselrong" whom I believe is Estonian and who has put up wonderful histories of various ex-Soviet trains including the DR1, in Russian with English subtitles. Several factories were invited to tender to build these trains; two declined because they had no experience of DMUs. Riga Wagon Works took the project on although it also had no experience of DMUs. This train was one of the first to have aluminium monocoque bodies and also to have disc brakes. The original engine had dry-sump lubrication so that it could be fitted as low as possible in the hull of a motor torpedo boat, which was the application it was originally designed for. There was a pump that scavenged oil from the bottom of the crankcase and returned it to the tank. If this pump was not switched on and working correctly the oil could flood the crankcase, overflow and/or get past the piston rings and make smoke.
@@cedriclynchI also follow Diiselrong! He uploads a lot of footage of every type of train in the Baltics
DR1AM is the modernized version with the MTU engines. Sadly, there are still a couple of Zvezda engine DR1A sets still in service. They should be replaced by ~2027, when new BEMU sets enter service
2022 LDZ stopped all electrification plans for their broad gauge network due to lack of funding. Only rail baltica is intended to be electrified. The pillars you saw are over 30 yaers old due to non completed riga garkalne electrification project.
Latvia intends to electrify to the Riga suburb of Bolderaja, Krustpils and also to Garkalne actually. But further than that is uncertain
How Corrupt is Latvia? Must be going to the underdeveloped third world country status
the original (soviet) plans extended electrification at least to Sigulda. posts (and even some wiring, including catenary) was only partially completed, and mainly dismantled during 90ies. :(
Diesel trains might be replaced by battery electric - as it might be more cost effective than electrifying tracks as there's so few passengers on unelectrified routes.
Valmiera mentioned 🦅
I had traveled between Riga and Jurmala by train 3 years ago in a similar EK2 multiple unit. In that one they hadn't changed the seats for new ones, so they had a 3+3 configuration. It was really amazing riding this train.
Hey! You're probably mistaking this diesel train for its electric counterpart - the ER2.
The ER2 actually only uses the 3+3 configuration in both old and modernised carriages as it only covers short distances around the capital - they're not supposed to be replaced by these coach bus seats :)
@@ikilius Yes I think you are right about the name. I wasn't sure about it myself.
No change since 1997. Thanks for reminding me my old student days at RBS and stay in Riga 1997-1999.
now we have new trains
@@unixoid33Not for anywhere outside of Riga for this line, though, the new trains are only for electrified lines.
@@andrejsk6211 At least they go to Aizkraukle. it is far beyond Riga. Well, yes. not everywhere
As a Latvian myself, it is quite interesting to see our trains being judged! Cool video! The “hole” behind the trains table used to be a cup holder, but you sat in a seat where it is broken
When I was a kid, I oftenly travelled on DR-1As. And I loved it, soviet trains are just amazing.
They really are enjoyable. :)
i have travelled on this train several times, it's pretty unremarkable and cheap, does the job as expected. i've met a few drunks on board a few times who would approach you asking if you'd like a drink (at 4 in the morning), good times!
This has probably been answered by now, but the "groove" in the seat trays are actually removed cup holders that you can normally pull out same way as the tray table, I rarely ever actually see them due vandalism on these trains, thanks for the content!
I have faint memories of seats with that sideways slide option on a coach ages ago. And I find the seats on the train have a coach feeling about them.
Yea it's a common thing on flixbus for example
These aren't express trains , more suburban and rural DMU's , 1st versions date back to the Soviet era , were designed and built in Riga, but found all over eastern europe and even as far as Cuba. Very similar DMU's with bogie mounted diesel engines in the driving/motor cars were also built in Hungary, but those have an even more old fashioned appearance. Factory that built them survived the soviet era but went out of business by 2017.
A buffet and first class on a 3 hour train trip? What kind of luxury madness is that? In my part of Australia, a 3 hour train trip is still a commuter service, an intercity commuter service, and there is no buffet or first class.
You can cross the whole LV in 3h, for us it is considered a long time, haha
Actually, Lugazi station is also serving, or it used to, the city of Valka - the border city as there is no train station in Valka itself. Nowadays with no border checkpoints, it would be more convenient just to go to Valga, I think it's within walking distance from Valka center. Back when I was a kid, 25+ years ago I remember having to take a bus to Lugazi from Valka so you could catch a train and not have to cross the border, wasn't as easy back then as it is now, I don't think there was a connection with Valga back then, Lugazi was the last stop.
I really love this train. Although it is old, it is very beautiful. The colours are so beautiful
I believe that nation-level electrification is cancelled, as we were unable to satisfy the European time schedule for it (and the money was European).
The poles You saw stand there since Soviet times, when they planned to electrify the tracks between Riga and Sigulda (a major tourist attraction) but did not make it in time either.
This is a false, politically motivated statement. The EU Cohesion Fund would have shouldered 72% of the cost, the Latvian government 6% with the rest falling on the company. However, said electrification project was primarily designed for freight, which has not maintained the desired levels since it's inception in 2014 so it would have been insolvent without additional government funding of 40 million back in early 2020. The new railway electrification project is focused on passenger transport, which like the previous one includes substantial overhauls of the current electrified rail and aims to be fully completed by 2040. There is also a separate project with separate funding for 9 battery powered passenger trains to be run on non-electrified routes by 2026.
Great report. Lots of forward looking statements. Hehe 😁
I was a commuter for a few years on these diesel trains. And as a kid I enjoyed seeing trains in making, sticking out of the open gates of the RVR facilities, which are on the other side of the curve 10:54
The groove in the back of the table is for a fold-out cup holder that's broken off.
Never thought I see the day with trains having 3 + 3 seating. Great review
I was in there last summer, I was travelling from Sigulda to Riga, such beautiful station, all preserved and platforms and such. They do care about quality!
I did the opposite ride, Vilnius-Riga-Valga-Tallinn.
Lithuanian 730M offers the most comfort, followed by slightly more dense Estonian Flirts. Latvian DR1A was certainly an outlier.
I paid 22 € for ticket of LT train, 5 € for LV and 11 € for EE. It felt surreal that you can cross entire country for so little.
This is a great video. I am planning to make this journey but the other way around (Riga -> Valga and then on to Tartu) this summer, so it's really cool to see you upload this now.
great route for train bike combo!
Thanks for the Video.🤩 I also traveled the baltic states by train last late summer. Those were my favourite trains. I also took it from Liepaja to Riga. I found the engine surprisingly quiet. We have much louder modern diesel rail cars in service in Germany. All in all those trains made the impression to me to be built to last forever :D
Glad you visited my country!
A nice video to watch, I love the music choice, the shots you showed and all the facts. You have a new subscriber :)
Thank you! 😃
Wow, such a detailed explanation. I am from Latvia (living few km from Sigulda) and I do approve data accuracy! You even itrigued me to consider this route:)
I have been travelling on the DR1 as well, and I think it was the same line too.
Ours had the old style seating with the vinyl upholstery, the ride is actually quite good.
They are comparable with class DE3 we had here in the Netherlands, these were from the same era, first built in 1963, also 3 cars of which one a motor car with a luggage and engine compartment, so very similar in layout. Identical comfort too. So when compared with contemporary west European trains of the same era Soviet trains weren't bad at all. Latvia just kept them working a bit longer now, the Dutch DE3 retired in 2003.
Always interesting and this one adds to my knowledge of railways in a country I haven't been to. And yes, I did enjoy the photo which you got told off for taking. 😄
I can't stop watching your videos they're so calming for me and informational AND interesting.
As always a wonderful video. I have travelled on this train several times. Not the most comfortable, but a fun experience. I can receommend a stop in the city of Cesis. A very beautiful city. Also Sigulde is great with Latvias only Cable car.
Coming home from School and seeing an new Video from superalbs travel!
The grooves in the back of the plastic cupholders ( seen at 6:40 ) are from as trays that were banned and removed from the trains in the early 2000s
@8:33 "no buffet car ... despite the journey length of nearly 3 hours". a few years ago I took a four hour train from Budapest to Subotica - and was rather shocked to find there was no place to buy food! was rather hungry by the time I reached Serbia!!
the seats look like they come straight out of some 2000's touring cars. the missing parts of the folding tables are to be cup holders.
Ooh... we have new Skoda trains now. And I didn't anticipated to see a video from my country, awesome.
There use to be a fold down cup holder in that grove on the seats, but that was ages ago, from what I remember a lot were broken or stuffed with trash, so I guess they just removed them. The fold down table itself is pretty robust though, despite being a bit flexible, I used to extended it and put my laptop on there which was a gaming one around 3kg. I haven't used the train in some time since getting a car in Latvia, but I think they recently retired the older DR1A (with the rounder designed front end).
Hi. i live in Latvia. love this trains. super video. Thanks.
Great video!
Oh beautiful train video
Latvian-made trains are extremely nice, especially if you can find one with an original interior. These DR1A units are the only Soviet-era trains that still run in Lithuania, which I think is unfortunate as we used to have RVR EMUs until recently.
I love them, i always enjoy riding them ❤
Been there - done that :D Took that train from Riga to Sigulda and back, a few years ago.
You make great videos!
We bought new shiny trains from Škoda - turns out nobody was checking if they have winter package installed.. some birocrats had a lot of questions to answer this January.. xD
"Daft sounding Vivi" - as Latvian myself, I've yet to hear anyone liking the new branding. Not only did they changed the name, they also changed the ticketing apps which was glitching out for months alongside completely new Škoda trains. So, in short, branding is very unpopular. Seems the ticketing apps are the most disliked apps in our country. I like the DR1A, seats are pretty comfy.
Sounds really bad 🤣
I started watching your train videos recently and here you are, going past my hometown Cesis.
When I was a teenager during cold winter evenings we went to that station with my first ever girlfriend to warm up lol. Spending there hours together and as you can imagine not for train spotting.
Those trains are being replaced so I guess it’s not long and this soviet train experience will not be available to anyone.
I love the look of soviet locos/train sets. I am yet to see a single in-depth video on soviet railways and it would be cool one day if some were made for all facets of it... But some of your video showed me things I have never seen (3-3 seat conf) and I enjoyed some of the interiors. A cool sight for all those on Rail Baltica will be, being able to see Soviet era trains.
Great Video!
The groove in the table is for a cup holder that could be tilted out. Mostly for busses as they shake a lot while driving and there your drink is secure without much attention and you can still leave your seat while that is much harder with the table down in a bus
Funny how you find out different aspects of the life in your own country from foreign traveler videos on youtube :) Great job! Thanx for sharing! Youve got a new subscriber! :)
Thank you so much! 😁
We had them in Estonia too, though they got replaced around 10 years ago and aside from the express train the whole interior was benches.. I was always envious of the latvians with their comfy seats since my grandma lived where express didnt stop :D
I last went to Latvia years ago. I got on a train, struggle to get on and went to Jurmala (forgive any spelling) beach. The beach was lovely, but the train was like something from the 1970s
Hi from Latvia! I remember when I needed to go from the tourist town Jurmala to Riga. I used these train every week but it was like 5 years ago so I don't remember anything.
As a Latvian, i have took these trains a few times and in general theyre comfortable and peaceful. What does really make me anxious is the boarding and leaving because of the steps at the entrance.
I suggest visiting salaspils, especially botanic garden, it's beautiful!
I love theese reviews
I like these trains, the age of them never really bothered me, and from my experience they have been clean and well-maintained most of the time.
Just casually taking a train ride to City 17
Nice review 👌
Hope to see the electrified trains on Jelgava-Dobele-Liepāja line too
Yoooooooooo, finally a video about my country!
I love the gangway hurdle 😂
Groove in the seat table used to be a cup holder, before they were removed/broken off
Travelled on these in Lithuania in 2002. I remember they had wooden benches.
I have taken the electric variants with wooden benches en route to Jurmala. Proper vintage, but looked nice
Those were the DR1A units in Lithuania, they were refurbished and modernised as DR1AM series later and they were provided with modern interiors and soft seats. I travelled in a DR1AM unit in 2019, the train was quite alright but the trip was very slow due to bad infrastructure
The seats were certainly previously in a long-distance bus and were reused here.
The hole on the tray table you pointed out is probably the storage place for escape hammers.
I have rode twice and that was nostalgic. The fare is coming from huge state dotation and lower salaries. The problem is in Valga because of Russian invasion. Big infrastructure and a little users. After some years is possibilty to see again Riga-Valga-Tartu direct rail route. Estonians and Latvians now finding out that. Riga and Vilnius were started interbaltic railway connection already.
0:15 exclusive content by the way! This train(on the opposite tracks) is no longer running. It was the oldest one running from it's building year(~1960)
6:15 they have the same thing too in boznia some of the long journeys buses have it
Poles beside the track closer to Riga are from the end of 1980-s, when electrification of this line (from Riga to Sigulda) was started and even completed to the station Garkalne (previosly Ropaži). Sadly, when Soviet era was over, also electrification works were cancelled, and even the existing wires were dismantled. So, poles are not erected nowadays with a thought for future, they are simply the remains of past.
綺麗な映像❤
Great trip. Yeah, not expecting too much about Rail Transport in Baltic Countries until Rail Baltica operatong in the future. In current time, enjoy the classic train or taking other transportation if you want visiting within Baltic Countries, especially flying or taking a Coach/Lond Distance Bus.
Probably it worths to mention. Rails between Baltic capitals and Poland exist, but with 1520 mm track gauge. So, the infrastructure is already capable to run some traffic, e.g. with aligned transfers at border LT/PL, but on some reasons they don't do it. Tallin - Riga route is a great example of how bad it can be, while bus ride takes ~4 hours.
For now, they are building European gauge tracks, hope at least them will push them to establish better train service.
one of the reasons is an insufficient number of available rolling stock, but also the unwillingness of govts to sign agreements for establishing the routes
Hello from Latvia!
fun fact: RVR company gave an RVR train to yugoslavia, the train is up till this day, but remodeled, this is how RVR 412/416 EMU was born, btw this train can be found in, bulgaria, macedonia, serbia, montenegro (i dont know how bulgaria got that train)
The groove had possibly foldable drink holder. We have some buses with that kind a holders
Yes, i would, very good.
The groove in the seatback table is broken and was suppoed to be used as a cupholder. It would fold down and you could put your cup inside it. Either way, I travel using Pasažieru Vilciens frequently and it's cool to see an outsider's (non-Latvian) perspective, great video!
The seats are seemingly taken out of a coach bus, and that groove you were talking about was supposed to be a place where the cupholder would fold out if you didn't want to open the entire table.
(Btw thx for showing me the trick with the extension)
Thank you for visiting Latvia. The answer to your question about those grooves can be found ... in your video at 8:29 😀 You'll notice that some folding tables have this groove filled in. It's actually a smaller foldable piece that can serve as an even smaller "table". However, it is so fragile that most of them seem to be broken off completely.
The tickets are cheaper when buying in the Mobilly app before boarding the train.
Now we have new trains from Skoda, but they are having issues with our climate and people are angry. I hope Skoda will improve them and fix the problems.
Your pronunciation of Latvian towns is very good, but there's just one thing. In the Latvian language, the emphasis is almost always on the first syllable. The only exceptions are foreign words and combined words. It is always a bit funny to hear foreigners putting emphasis in the middle of Latvian names, and that sometimes makes me puzzled - why are they even trying to guess it if it's just simpler to always put it on the first syllable and be right in 99.9% cases 😀
Really hoping for Tartu to Riga direct route to open this year. I think it used to operate in soviet times but later was cancelled because of not enough cooperation between Latvian and Estonian governments. I live close to Tartu in Elva (also has a railway stop) and that would make travelling much easier.
I believe the groove you mentioned @ 6:38 used to be a cup holder, until somebody broke it off! These used to be common on old buses, as somebody mentioned in the comments.
Valmiera is actually one of the biggest cities in Latvia (top 10)
6:40 that "groove" is where a cupholder was
My best guess is that these seats come from long distance coaches and it is not too uncommon for them to slide out so you have more space to the person next to you as during driving the aisle isn't needed most of the time.