Riga–Daugavpils Railway

The Riga–Daugavpils railway line (Dzelzceļa līnija Rīga—Daugavpils) is a 218 km long railway line in Latvia which connects the cities of Riga in central Latvia and Daugavpils in south-eastern Latvia.

The railway line is double track between Riga and Krustpils and single track between Krustpils and Daugavpils. The track gauge is (Russian gauge). It was built in 1861, and is one the oldest railway lines in Latvia.

History
The railway line was opened on 21 September 1861 as one of the first railway lines in the present territory of Latvia. It was a part of the Riga–Oryol railway line, a 1546,7 km long railway line in the Russian Empire, constructed to connect the Baltic Sea at Riga with Oryol in central Russia. At Daugavpils the line connected with the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway, and thus joined the city of Riga with the Russian rail network. In 1894, the line became the property of the state.