'Now We To Wait For 12-18 Hours On 'Lithuanian Border'
- 18.08.2023, 9:46
Lithuania has closed the Shumskas and Tveriačius border crossings on the border with Belarus.
Lithuania has closed two border crossings with Belarus - Shumskas (adjacent to the Belarusian side - Loša) and Tveriačius (adjacent - Vidzy) - since 00 o'clock on 18 August. The passing capacity of Shumskas/Losha was 250-300 cars per day, while through Tveriachius (Vidzy) passed 100-140 cars and 50-70 trucks per day, notes infotrans.by.
Situation with passenger traffic at the Lithuanian border has worsened
If the waiting time at Kamenny Loh/Miadyninkai used to be 10-12 hours, now it's 12-18 hours. Profile telegram channels write about frequent software failures at Miadyninkai from the Lithuanian side, when the traffic of passenger cars stops for 6-10 hours (during this time not a single passenger car is allowed to pass), which leads to a huge accumulation of cars in the waiting area (WA). In addition, the Lithuanian side has not yet completed the repair works at Miadininkai, so this border crossing is not yet fully operational. At 9am on 18 August, there were more than 110 cars in the Kamenny Loh crossing area, while the cars that entered the area at 11pm on the previous day hadn't even left (according to the Beltamozhservice operator).
The queues at Kotlovka/Lavorishkes have also increased. There are more than 70 cars in and entering the WA. In total, there are more than 100 cars at the border crossing. The waiting time in the WA alone is 6-8 hours.
Statistically, two crossings (Belarusian and Lithuanian) will take the same 12-18 hours.
In Beniakoni/Salcininkai there are more than 100 vehicles in the WA. According to the statistics of the ZO operator, the waiting time in the WA alone will be 8-10 hours. At 9.00 am on 18 August there are more than 70 cars in the Beniakoni WA, and cars that entered the WA at 0.50 am today have not even left the WA (according to the WA operator - RUE Beltamozhservice). The total waiting time is 12-16 hours.
At Privalka/Raigardas there are more than 40 cars in front of the barrier. In total there are more than 70 cars at the crossing. Profile Telegram channels write that the time for crossing both borders (Belarusian and Lithuanian) is 12-15 hours.
Due to the closure of the Tveriačius/Vidzy border crossing (Vitsebsk region), there are also significant queues at the Latvian border crossings (Urbani/Silene, Grigorovščina/Paternieki), which have never been there before. Telegram channels are full of messages - to cross the border to Latvia in 5-8 hours is nonsense. Nevertheless, the Latvian direction remains less busy than the Lithuanian one.
"Now, instead of 6-8 hours, we will stand on "Lithuania" for 12-18 hours, but if Lithuania closes the border crossings with Belarus, the situation will be even worse," wrote eyewitnesses in profile Telegram channels, crossing the border by car.
Nevertheless, the summer holiday season is not over yet, so a significant accumulation of queues in August-September cannot be avoided," said the Association of Intermodal Transport and Logistics "AIPL".