In 2023, Latvian Railways launched an extensive modernization project to upgrade its aging passenger rail infrastructure. This initiative was aimed to replace its entire fleet of electric trains and renovate over half of the stations currently in use by electric trains—many of which have remained largely unchanged for the past fifty years. While these upgrades bring necessary improvements in safety and accessibility, they also strip the stations of the unique details and character accumulated over decades—traces of Soviet-era design and the period of Latvia’s regained independence.

This visual study documents the railway as a space of transition—not only in terms of travel, but also in its shifting historical and cultural identity. They serve as silent witnesses to generational change, political shifts, and the evolving relationship between people and their surroundings. Through a juxtaposition of past and present, the work explores how Soviet-era remnants continue to shape Latvia’s built environment and collective memory. The modernization of these stations is not an isolated process but part of a broader pattern of erasure and transformation, where infrastructure becomes a contested site between historical legacy and contemporary progress.