LDZ has 2413km of railroads and is the main connection line between Latvian ports and the final freight loading points in the CIS countries and other continent regions.

About 80 per cent of the transportation services are related to the transit consignments, more than 90 per cent of them are in the East-West-East lines. Local transportation composes only 7.3 per cent.

Oil and oil products, chemicals, fertilisers, metals and timber compose the basic share in the freight structure.

From 1994 the total transportation volumes have been constantly increasing. In 1996 the overall freight volumes carried by LDZ reached 35 million tonnes - 1.3 times more than in 1994.

LDZ has necessary technical equipment and experienced staff to carry and to unload the freight with the proper quality. LDZ has also the reserve of storehouses that can be rented.

LDZ has a common gauge (1520mm) and technology with the neighbouring railways of Lithuania, Estonia, Russia and Belorussia. Automatic information system of freight operations allows efficient control for the train motion and to inform the client in time about the freight arrival to the final station.

In 1997 container transportation in the special container trains from Riga to Moscow and the auto trailers transportation in the special railway wagons have been launched.

The determination of freight tariffs is in accordance with the Combined International Transit System. The freight rate regulations and individual approach to every client allow LDZ to offer better rates than the neighbouring countries.