History
In 1851, the government of Russia made the decision to build the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway. The line included a stretch from Daugavpils–Vilnius–Kaunas–Virbalis which was started in 1858 and finished in 1860. When the German army occupied Lithuania in 1915, the railway became the main supplier of food staff and ammunition for the German army. In 1918 Lithuanian independence was restored, and in 1919 the Lithuanian government concluded an agreement with Germany on the hand over of the railway assets to the Ministry of Transport.
During the years after WWI, Lithuanian Railways reconstructed the tracks, connecting them into a complete network. In 1923 the Klaipėda region was annexed by Lithuania and the port of Klaipėda had became a part of the Lithuanian railway system. In 1940 the USSR occupied Lithuania, and railway activities were reorganized and all the agreements of Lithuania concluded with the neighbouring countries were terminated. In 1941, the Nazis occupying force changed most of the network from broad gauge to standard gauge. This was changed back by Soviets in 1944. During Soviet times all of the Baltic states railways were managed from Riga. In 1991, the railways of the Baltic region were once again divided into separate railway companies.
Read more about this topic: Lithuanian Railways
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