RIGA, Oct 24 (LETA) - Regional buses and trains in the first nine months of this year carried 27.6 million passengers or by 32.2 percent more than in the respective period last year, LETA learned from the Road Transport Directorate.

Trains carried 11.71 million passengers which is by 41.4 percent or 3.43 million passengers more than a year ago, while buses carried 15.89 million passengers or by 26.1 percent or 3.29 million passengers more than in the respective period last year.

The directorate said that the number of passengers carried by regional public transport is nearing the 2019 numbers. In the first nine months of this year, the number reached 83 percent of the nine-month number of 2019.

In the first nine months of 2021, regional public transport carried 20.88 million passengers, including 8.28 million passengers by train and 12.6 million passengers by bus. In the fist nine months of 2019, 36.09 million passengers were carried by regional public transport.