Subscribe to Future Europe on iTunes, Spotify and Acast.

Future Europe features a podcast episode from each of the EU’s 28 Member States. Each episode tells the story of a project that illuminates the way Europeans will live in the future. All the stories are told through the voices of people involved in the projects.

“The first thing you notice is the design. The new tram is much larger, fully low-floored, articulated, a three-sectional tram. The old one is two separate wagons. The new ones are also much quieter than the old ones,” says Maris Labanovics, as he comes to a halt next to a number of new gleaming trams that stand alongside their old counterparts. Maris works in the technical and warranty department of Riga Satiksme, the public transport company of Riga.

Elizabete is one of the people in Riga using the trams for her daily commute in Riga. She says the main improvement of the new trams is the climate control system. “When I was a little girl… I remember that during summers it was too hot and during winters it was too cold, but now, because of the air conditioning, the temperature is great,” she says.

But for Elizabete – along with other tram users – the advantages of the new infrastructure goes far beyond being more comfortable. She recognises the importance of reducing car traffic in Riga’s densely packed streets. “Our city centre is very small. We have a lot of cars in the city centre and they create lots of traffic congestion, and no one is happy in traffic. So the public transport is very useful,” she says.

Cleaner air for a cleaner city

This mirrors the broader view taken by the city authorities.

Nils Usakovs is chairman of the Riga city council. As he looks out of his window across the church spires and down into the narrow streets of the medieval town centre, he says that Riga must take inspiration from cities in Denmark or the Netherlands where there are fewer private cars, more bicycles and greater access to public transport.

It is not just about making Riga’s residents stuck in traffic more happy. It is also about making the city life cleaner and healthier. In addition to the trams, the EIB’s EUR 75 million support to Riga is being used for the purchase of 10 hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) buses and 10 hydrogen trolley buses, with HFC ‘range extenders’.

The new hydrogen cell fuelled trolley buses will allow the Riga Satiksme to replace existing ‘dirtier’ vehicles making public transport better for all the city’s residents. In fact Riga Satiksme built the first hydrogen producing and refuelling station in Eastern Europe.

Innovative and at the cutting edge of technology

Riga is also part of a larger engineering study in 12 European cities to improve hydrogen bus technology. Marina Ismaila, an EIB loan officer for lending operations in public sector infrastructure, says the study has put Latvia and its capital city at the forefront of technological development.

“As a Latvian and as a resident of Riga, I’m proud to say that the completion of the project will reposition Riga as an innovative city working on the cutting edge of technology,” she says.

Riga has an extensive, but ageing, public transport network. The 53 bus lines and 19 trolley bus lines were not designed for the 21st century. This is all going to change with the new investment plan which includes not just the new trams and the hydrogen buses and trolley buses, but also the upgrade of 11 kilometers of tram tracks and an overhaul Riga’s tram depot to allow for the efficient maintenance and repair of the new trams.

This is good news for Maris Labanovics from Riga Satiksme’s technical and warranty department, giving a tour of the workshop, the forge and the painting house that are about to be refurbished. And it is good news for residents of Riga.