Updated at 13:45,15-04-2024

New Minsk-Vilnius train may be faster and with more convenient border control

BelarusFeed

New Minsk-Vilnius train may be faster and with more convenient border control
Photo: TUT.BY
Belarusian Railways are testing an experimental Minsk-Vilnius train. Border and customs control in it are held before the departure from the Belarusian capital.

This is supposed to make the trip more convenient for passengers and shorten travel time as the train won’t be making stops on its way.

The train left Minsk at 8:00 on 12 April.

Border officers were meeting passengers and checking their documents near the head of the train. Customs officers were asking if passengers had anything to declare at the entrance to each car. Passport check took about one minute, TUT.BY reported.

Passengers had been notified that they had to arrive 45 minutes before the departure for all the necessary procedures to be completed by 7:45.

The experiment was started by the Belarusian railways in order to find out the “best way to organize customs and border control”.

At present the change did not influence the duration of the trip between the Belarusian and Lithuanian capitals. It took the train 3 hours, although the duration of the stop at Gudogai station shortened to one minute.

The procedure of passport control at Vilnius railway station remained.

In the evening the experimental train will return to Minsk.