The company "Russian Railways" (RZD) is selling the Riga Station at an open auction. The corresponding order was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
At the opening of the auction, the starting price of the Riga Station will start at 4.009 billion rubles.
President of the National Research Center for Transportation and Infrastructure Pavel Ivankin explained the reason for the sale of the Riga Station.
After the launch of the MCD, when the entire volume of suburban traffic on the Riga direction began to move along the MCD, the number of suburban trains arriving at the Riga Station also tended to zero. Since the station is not fully used as a passenger complex, most of the Riga Station's freight yard has been transferred by Moscow for commercial development.
Pavel Ivankin also emphasized that it is difficult for Russian Railways to maintain such an expensive facility.
The Riga Station was closed for renovation on March 1, 2023, and reopened in September 2024 after the reorganization of the tracks for the launch of the MCD-4.
The station building was built in 1897–1901 according to the project of S. Brzozowski under the leadership of Yu. F. Diederichs and initially connected Moscow with the ice-free ports of the Baltic. The station has been repeatedly used as a filming location for famous films ("Ballad of a Soldier", "Station for Two" and "Admiral"). The object has changed its name several times during its existence — from Vindavsky to the modern Riga.