Finnish Railway NewsTo update this page regularly I need Your help aswell. Please
use fast on-line form or send
your news to
.
You can use English, Finnish or German.
Three latest piece of news also in WAP-format: http://wap.rautatie.com/. Use Reload-button to make sure you get the latest news. You can use this form to get latest piece of news by email when news page is updated.
Last updated Sat Jul 19 13:06:09 EEST 2008
VR's passenger services have continued to grow strongly in the first months of the year, with growth of 6.1%. VR Group recorded a net profit in January-April 2008 of M€ 6.3, compared with M€ 2.4 in the corresponding period of the previous year.
VR Group’s net turnover in the first four months of the year totalled M€ 463.0 (M€ 402.3). The operating profit was M€ 7.3 (M€ 1.9).
Altogether 8.0% more journeys were made during the review period in long-distance rail services and 5.7% in commuter services in the Greater Helsinki area than in the previous year. The number of journeys in commuter services in the YTV area increased 4.8% and outside this area in VR’s zone services by 8.9%.
The total number of journeys made by rail in the first four months of the year was 23.2 million. Net turnover for passenger services increased 11.8% to M€ 133.6. The punctuality of services remained good.
Domestic freight carryings by rail declined 2.4%. Carryings in the largest product group, the forest industry, decreased 4.9%. The increase in metal and mechanical engineering and chemical industry carryings was not able to compensate for the fall in the volumes of forest industry carryings.
VR's carryings to and from Russia increased 16.5% in the January-April period. This sharp growth was because volumes had fallen significantly in the previous year. Chemical industry carryings, comprising mainly petroleum products, now became the largest product group in this traffic, increasing 31.4%. Imports of round timber increased by 3.0%, despite the rise in export duties on round timber at the beginning of April.
Altogether 14.4 million tonnes of freight were transported by rail, an increase of 3.2%. The net turnover of freight services rose 7.2% to M€ 124.8.
Capital expenditure amounted to M€ 36.6 (M€ 26.9) during the review period. No decisions were made on major new investments, and expenditure was mainly on normal replacement and renovation of rolling stock. The largest item in expenditure on property was the completion of the maintenance shed for long-distance trains at Ilmala, Helsinki.
Source VR 12.6
Source WWW
http://www.vrgroup.fi/vakiolinkit/VRinforms/news_120.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)
A Finnish Railways (VR) conductor on Wednesday ordered the driver to stop the train in the middle of a forest and removed a passenger who had wanted to pay his fare with a Visa Electron, a type of debit card, provincial paper Ilkka reported on Thursday. The passenger was quoted as saying that he had offered to pay the fare in the next station, Tampere, but the conductor had rejected the idea.
Antti Jaatinen, head of passenger traffic at VR, corroborated the passenger's account and said the conductor had ignored the standard procedure of removing insolvent passengers in the next station. Mr Jaatinen added that Visa Electrons cannot be used on trains as they can be used only in terminals with a data link to the bank.
Source Newsroom Finland 26.6
Source WWW
http://virtual.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=19105&group=General
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 193.234.247.50 with browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)
17 persons were injured in a tram collision in Helsinki's Vallila area. Only one person was reported seriously hurt, while others received cuts and bruises.
Police speculate that the incident occurred when the brakes on the Number 1 tram failed, causing it rear-end the Number 7 tram it had been following.
The incident occurred just before 2.00 pm, and traffic was restored to normal during the afternoon. Altogether there were 40 passengers on the two trams.
Source Yle 13.6
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/id93551.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.12) Gecko/20070508 Firefox/1.5.0.12
Construction work on the new metro line is set to begin at the end of 2009. The westward expansion of the metro line was approved late Wednesday evening.
The Helsinki City Council's approval of the Ruoholahti to Matinkylä line sealed the deal. Espoo's City Council already approved the construction on Monday.
Building costs of the new line are estimated around 714 million euros. Espoo's share of the costs is 355 million euros.
Source Yle 21.5
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id91354.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.12) Gecko/20070508 Firefox/1.5.0.12
Rail traffic resumed moving through Riihimäki at 6.45 p.m. on Monday. A fire, which engulfed a travel depot in the vicinity of the Riihimäki train station, suspended train traffic for three hours in the early evening on Monday. Officials say no people were injured in the fire.
Efforts to extinguish the fire continue on Monday evening from outside the building, as safety regulations prevent the firemen from working inside the structure. Firemen will most likely be able to enter the building on Tuesday morning. Dozens of gas bottles meanwhile remain inside the structure.
Rail traffic at Riihimäki station, including some twenty long-distance trains, were at a standstill at Riihimäki for three hours on Monday evening. During this time commuter trains leaving from Helsinki to Riihimäki were turned back. The fire caused traffic congestion in and around the town of Riihimäki.
Fire Kept People Indoors
The construction site of the Riihimäki travel depot burst into flames around 3 p.m. on Monday. It is suspected that the fire was caused by a gas heater inflaming styrox boards in the parking levels of the depot.
At six p.m. emergency services lifted their advisory for people to stay indoors and to close doors and windows as well as turn off air conditioners in their homes. The smoke let off by burning styrox, i.e., expanded polystyrene, can both irritate and damage the respiratory system.
Construction company YIT, charged with the building of the depot, has yet to provide an estimate of the damage caused by the fire.
Source Yle 5.5
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id89858.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.12) Gecko/20070508 Firefox/1.5.0.12
A Finnish government working group charged with looking into possible ways to develop cross-border transport links in northeastern Finland said in a report Thursday that a railway line between Salla and Alakurtti might be profitable with the extraction of natural resources in the Barents region.
The working group added that a more detailed report on costs, benefits and funding of a link between the Finnish and Russian railways in in the northeast should be commissioned if Russia signalled willingness to invest in it.
Handing its report to Anu Vehviläinen (centre), the transport minister, the group recommended looking into nonstop flights from Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland, to Murmansk in Russia and from Oulu to Archangelsk.
It added that there might be demand for a coach service between Joensuu and Petrozavodsk and recommended a passenger rail service trial between the cities.
The working group also recommended measures to speed up border formalities.
Source NewsRoom Finland 10.4
Source WWW
http://virtual.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=18469&group=Politics
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 193.234.247.50 with browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30)
The Finnish Rail Administration is planning to remove 120 level railway crossings this year, in an effort to cut down on the number of collisions that occur on them.
For years the Administration has been removing level crossings little by little, but this is twice the number of crossings they would normally tackle in one year. Dangerous crossings will be replaced by bridges, tunnels, or upgraded to safe railway crossing points.
Last year there were 49 collisions on level crossing points. Nine people were killed and 20 were injured. The government decided last autumn to give the Rail Administration an additional nine million euros - on top of its four million-euro allotment - to help correct the problem quickly.
The cost of building a bridge over a crossing is anywhere between 500,000 and three million euros. Installing an automatic barrier costs 100,000 euros.
Eastern and northern Finland have more railway crossings that are considered dangerous, so the focus will be on these areas. The most dangerous crossing, however, is considered to be one near Turku, on Old Tampere Road (Vanha Tampereentie).
Source Yle 12.4
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/id87820.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.12) Gecko/20070508 Firefox/1.5.0.12
VR Group's net profit in 2007 was EUR 66.4 million, compared to EUR 63.1 million the previous year. The Group's operating profit was EUR 87.1 (85.2) million. The net profit is the best the Group has achieved during this decade. The growth in passenger services was the main factor in this improvement.
Net turnover totalled EUR 1,334.1 (1,264.6) million. The Group's financial position and liquidity remained good.
Passenger services at record levels
The total number of passenger journeys was 66.7 million, which is a record. Altogether 12.9 million long-distance journeys were made, an increase of 3.1% from the previous year, and 399,000 rail journeys were made between Finland and Russia, growth of 18.4%.
The number of journeys in commuter services in the Greater Helsinki area increased 4.9% to 53.7 million. Commuter journeys outside the area administered by the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV area) increased 14.6% to 11.5 million. A main factor in the sharp increase in commuter traffic was the opening of the direct Kerava-Lahti line in September 2006. Rail journeys in the YTV area totalled 42.3 million, an increase of 2.5%.
Passenger services recorded a net turnover of EUR 370.2 (340.0) million.
Decline in volume of freight from Russia
VR Cargo's carryings totalled 40.3 (43.6) million tonnes. Domestic carryings accounted for 26.2 (26.0) million tonnes and international freight carryings for 14.1 (17.6) million tonnes.
Forest industry carryings remained the largest product segment in domestic freight traffic, totalling 20.1 million tonnes. Metal industry carryings were 4.4 million tonnes and carryings for the chemical industry 1.6 million tonnes. Forest industry carryings increased 2.3% from the previous year, but metal industry carryings fell 4.4% and chemical industry carryings declined 0.5%.
Most of the international freight traffic, 13.5 million tonnes, comprised carryings between Russia and Finland. This traffic declined 20.0% from the previous year. Some 40% of these carryings were imports of round timber, about 40% were chemical industry products and virtually all the rest were metal industry products. Imports of round timber from Russia declined more than 30%.
Freight transit carryings totalled 3.5 million tonnes, a decline of 16.4%. VR Cargo recorded a net turnover of EUR 340.0 (358.9) million.
Group's truck services expanded internationally
The Pohjolan Liikenne companies transported altogether 10.8 million tonnes of freight, an increase of 10.0% on the previous year. Some of this growth came from the Baltic countries and Eastern Central Europe.
The number of bus and coach journeys totalled 14.4 million, 2.4% more than in the previous year.
The Pohjolan Liikenne group's net turnover grew 19.3% to EUR 289.3 (242.4) million. Freight accounted for 86% of this and passenger services for 14%.
VR-Track still the biggest track contractor
VR-Track Ltd's net turnover was EUR 244.5 (239.2) million. The largest customer was the Finnish Rail Administration, which manages the national track network and is subordinate to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. VR-Track carried out just over half of the track work ordered by the Finnish Rail Administration.
The largest track superstructure contract was for the Turku-Toijala track section. Other major superstructure contracts were those on the Uimaharju-Lieksa, Tampere-Seinäjoki-Oulu and Kuopio-Iisalmi line sections.
The biggest marshalling yard contracts were at the Ilmala depot in Helsinki and in Imatra. The main railway planning projects were for the renovation of the Seinäjoki-Oulu, Toijala-Turku and Tornio-Kolari track sections.
Biggest investment in rolling stock shed at llmala
The Group's capital expenditure totalled EUR 118.9 (110.3) million, including EUR 39.2 (58.7) million for rolling stock for VR Ltd. Rolling stock investments were mainly in freight wagons and in refurbishing passenger rolling stock.
Construction of the rolling stock shed at the Helsinki depot in Ilmala was a considerable investment. The shed will improve train maintenance especially in winter. The work on refurbishing the depot will continue until 2011.
Source VR 31.3
Source WWW
http://www.vrgroup.fi/vakiolinkit/VRinforms/news_116.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 193.234.247.50 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; fi; rv:1.8.1.13) Gecko/20080311 Firefox/2.0.0.13
The Finnish government said in a statement Tuesday that Kari Alppivuori, the director-general of the Railway Agency, had been suspended from office for the duration of a preliminary police investigation. The statement added one of the agency's employees had told the police that Mr Alppivuori had assaulted one of his subordinates.
Source Newsroom Finland 1.4
Source WWW
http://virtual.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=18392&group=General
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 193.234.247.50 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; fi; rv:1.8.1.13) Gecko/20080311 Firefox/2.0.0.13
Planning work is to start for a railway tunnel beneath the Gulf of Finland linking Helsinki and the Estonian capital Tallinn. The mayors of Helsinki and Tallinn, Jussi Pajunen and Edgar Savisaar signed a letter of intent on a rail tunnel project on Friday.
The two agreed that in May both cities will apply for EU funding for preliminary studies of the scheme. Costs of an initial study are estimated at 500,000 to 800,000 euros. Each city itself will provide 100,000 euros.
A working group made up of deputy mayors and specialists is being established that will hold its first meeting in Helsinki at the start of April.
Pajunen: Depends on EU funding
Helsinki's Mayor Jussi Pajunen was not ready on Friday to speculate on a timetable for a rail tunnel construction project.
However, he did tell YLE that in such cases initial studies usually take about a year to complete. He said that he expects that a report will be finished no later than at the end of next year. Pajunen added that a lot depends on how the EU responds to the application for funding.
Source Yle 28.3
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id86525.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.12) Gecko/20070508 Firefox/1.5.0.12
Heavy snowfall and gusty winds disrupted transport in many parts of Finland on Wednesday, with eastern and southern parts the worst affected. The Finnish highways agency warned motorists of poor or very poor driving conditions in the entire country bar Ostrobothnia and Lapland.
A gale warning was in force in the southern Gulf of Bothnia and in waters southwest of the mainland.
Finnish Railways (VR) said Tuesday in anticipation of the dire weather it would cancel a number of commuter trains the next day. VR's control centre said Wednesday that the weather was causing only slight delays to both commuter and long-distance services.
Source Newsroom Finland 26.3
Source WWW
http://virtual.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=18337&group=General
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 193.234.247.50 with browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30)
Pääkaupunkiseudun Junakalusto Oy (Junakalusto Oy) and Stadler Bussnang AG (Stadler) signed a supply agreement for the delivery of 32 Flirt electric train units composed of four cars (Sm5 trains) on 31.10.2006.
The supply of Sm5 train units has progressed in accordance with the schedule of the supply agreement. The design phase and modifying of Sm5 train unit for Finnish conditions have been mainly finalised and assembly of the train units will begin at Stadler's plant in Bussnang, Switzerland in January 2008.
The train units will enter into passenger service between the last quarter of year 2009 and the first quarter of year 2014.
Source Junakalusto 10.1
Source WWW
http://www.junakalusto.fi/news.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.12) Gecko/20070508 Firefox/1.5.0.12
The Finnish State Railways, VR, plans to hire a couple thousand new workers within the next few years. Nearly a quarter of its workforce will retire by the year 2013, a total of 1,850 employees. VR plans to hire nearly 2,000 rail employees to deal with the labour loss.
The company says it particularly needs more engine drivers, conductors, mechanics and railway yard workers. VR estimates it will hire some 350 to 450 railway workers annually over the coming years.
The company plans to train most of the new workers itself. For example conductors, engine drivers and railway yard workers will receive training at VR's training centre in Helsinki.
Currently VR employs about 1,900 engine drivers, 1,700 railway yard workers, 900 mechanics and 800 conductors. Some 7,500 people work for the state-owned company.
Source Yle 23.1
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id80673.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.12) Gecko/20070508 Firefox/1.5.0.12
The popularity of rail travel rose to record levels last year. The number of journeys increased 4.5% from the previous year. A total of 66.7 million journeys were made by rail, more than ever before.
In long-distance services 3.1% more journeys were made by rail than in the previous year and in VR's commuter services 14.6% more. Journeys in the YTV area administered by the Helsinki metropolitan area council increased 2.5%. The opening of the Lahti direct line in September 2006 contributed to the sharp increase in commuter traffic.
Last year a total of 12.9 million journeys were made in long-distance trains. The number of rail journeys between Finland and Russia totalled 399,000, an increase of 18.4%. The number of journeys in VR's zone traffic was 11.5 million and in the YTV area 42.3 million.
Domestic freight carryings also reached record levels. Growth from the previous year was 0.9%. Traffic between Finland and Russia, however, fell by 21.2%, mainly due to the reduction in imports of round timber. Transit traffic through Finland declined 16.4%. In total VR's freight carryings decreased by 7.5% from the previous year.
In total freight carryings last year were 40.3 million tonnes. In Finland, VR transported 26.2 million tonnes of freight. Freight carryings between Finland and Russia amounted to 9.9 million tonnes. The volume of transit traffic through Finland to third countries was 3.5 million tonnes.
Source VR 17.1
Source WWW
http://www.vrgroup.fi/vakiolinkit/VRinforms/news_115.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 193.234.247.50 with browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30)
The planned extension of Helsinki's metro system west to Espoo is being jeopardised by rising costs. Construction of the extension is now estimated to reach 800 million euros. The state has promised to pay for one third of the cost, but the near doubling of the price tag could prove too much for the government.
The Espoo City Council gave the go-ahead for the extension of the Metro in September 2006. At that time, the line from Ruoholahti in the west of Helsinki to Matinkylä was expected to cost 430 million euros.
According to Olavi Louko, chairman of the board of the company that is administering the construction of the new metro line says that it is unlikely that it will possible to get all of the features required by safety officials and passengers for less than 800 million.
Safety and comfort features on the trains and at stations are the biggest factors pushing up the costs. The sharp increase has caused a few members of the Espoo City Council to question the feasibility of the whole project.
The approval of the project by the Espoo City Council was made conditional to a one-third contribution to the costs by the state. Now there are suspicions that the government and Parliament might balk at the prospect of granting 300 million euros to a transport project of one city.
Metro-sceptics in Espoo are now reviving options that were put forward before the city decided to go for the metro.
Upgrading the present bus network is seen as one option: establishing a light rail system is seen as another.
Source YLE 16.1
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id80086.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.12) Gecko/20070508 Firefox/1.5.0.12
Helsinki City Transport (HKL) said Wednesday it was likely to install platform doors at some of the stations of its single-line underground system. HKL added the doors would improve passenger safety and comfort as they prevented falls from the platform and muffled train noise.
The plans to order platform doors are closely linked to HKL's project to automate the underground trains. Driverless trains are to be rolled out in 2012 at the earliest.
Source NewsRoom Finland 10.1
Source WWW
http://virtual.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=17687&group=General
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.12) Gecko/20070508 Firefox/1.5.0.12
Last year the number of train passengers jumped by 12 percent in Finland. The growth is attributed to both the direct line from Kerava to Lahti, and new, speedier locomotives. Antti Jaatinen, the director of passenger services at the Finnish State Railways VR, says there's been a record use of local and long-distance trains, as well as trains to Russia.
The popularity of public transport can also be seen in the capital region. Last year the number of passengers grew by five percent, largely due to more routes, like the cross-town bus service "Jokeri Line".
But not everyone is celebrating. Long-distance buses have steadily lost passengers over the years. Routes are being cancelled, and many people are now travelling by car on their long commutes to work.
The government, hoping to make public transportation more attractive in the coming years, has promised 10 million euros to develop public transport. Currently passenger cars constitute 85 percent of all transport in Finland.
Source Yle 7.1.2008
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id79316.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.12) Gecko/20070508 Firefox/1.5.0.12
904 visits from 18.08.02 to 20.1.03. 4167 visits from 18.08.02 to 2.1.03. 7925 visits from 18.08.02 to 14.1.05. 12546 visits from 18.08.02 to 15.1.06. 12546 visits from 18.08.02 to 15.1.06. 18613 visits from 18.8.02 to 30.3.07. Note that I don't work for VR. Created Tue, Dec 9 1997 Kimmo Kotimäki.