Finnish Railway News - Year 2006Three 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 Mon Dec 18 22:27:52 EET 2006
A working group appointed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland suggests that construction of a rail line from the city centre of Helsinki to Helsinki-Vantaa airport be started in 2008.
The new link would offer the annual 12 million air passengers a rail connection to the airport. The working group estimates that the improved public transport connections could create a basis for new housing districts of 40,000 people, and could bring about 60,000 jobs to Vantaa. The rail connection would become operational in 2013 at the earliest.
The working group suggests that the costs for the construction be divided between the State, which would pay around 70-75%, and the City of Vantaa, which would pay around 25-30%.
The working group is of the opinion that the most cost-efficient way to finance the project would be through the State budget. For example public-private partnership would not be beneficial because of strict technical regulations that govern rail construction. The group saw no particular benefits in a special public project company either.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy has taken a positive stance on the rail project. Ms Susanna Huovinen, Minister of Transport and Communications, stresses the importance of improving public transport connections in the Helsinki metropolitan area that is likely to suffer from congestion in the future.
- The new rail line would make trips to work, schools and shops easier and it would open up possibilities for housing production in the Helsinki metropolitan area. It would also provide a badly needed rail connection to Finland’s most important airport, she says.
- I feel confident that the next Government will take a decision to implement the project before the end of this year.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications appointed a working group to look into project models applicable to the new section of rail line in June 2006. The group examined, among other things, construction costs, operating guidelines, and impacts on the housing policy in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
Source MINTC 16.2
Source WWW
http://www.mintc.fi/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=lvm/cm/pub/showdoc.p?docid=2186&menuid=242&channelitemid=15553&channelid=77
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.11) Gecko/20070312 Firefox/1.5.0.11
VR Group’s net profit in 2006 was EUR 63.1 million, compared to EUR 46.0 million the previous year. The operating profit was EUR 85.2 (61.1) million. Net profit was improved by the increase in net turnover and also by income from the sale of fixed assets that was EUR 5.1 million higher than in the previous year.
Net turnover amounted to EUR 1,264.6 (1,196.6) million. The Group’s financial position and liquidity remained good.
Freight carryings at record level
VR Cargo’s carryings totalled 43.6 (40.7) million tonnes. This exceeds by 0.1 million tonnes the previous highest amount ever recorded in 2003. Growth from the previous year was 7.0%.
Domestic carryings were 26.0 (23.5) million tonnes, an increase of 10.6%. However, the comparable figure for 2005 was reduced by the long labour dispute in the forest industry.
Forest industry carryings remained by far the largest product segment in domestic freight traffic last year, totalling 19.6 million tonnes. Metal industry carryings were 4.6 million tonnes and chemical industry carryings 1.6 million tonnes. Forest industry carryings increased 17.4%, whereas metal industry carryings declined 7.6% and chemical industry carryings declined 1.7%.
The volume of international freight traffic, crossing Finland’s border, was 17.6 million tonnes, an increase of 2.1%. Most of this traffic, 16.8 million tonnes, comprised carryings to and from Russia. Imports of round timber from Russia declined 10.7%, but transit traffic through Finland to third countries increased 25.3%. VR Cargo recorded a net turnover of EUR 358.9 (333.4) million.
Freight tonnage during January-February in 2007 was 5.5% less than in the corresponding period in the previous year. Domestic traffic increased 2.2%, but international traffic fell 18.3%. The decrease in carryings is mainly due to the significant decline in imports of Russian round timber. Round timber carryings have fallen 42.0% in the first months of 2007 compared to the previous year.
Outstanding year for passenger services
A total of 65.0 million journeys were made by rail last year, the highest annual number of journeys by rail to date in Finland. The number of rail journeys increased by 2.4% from the previous year. The completion of the Kerava-Lahti direct line increased rail travel towards the end of the year.
Long-distance services recorded 12.8 million journeys, an increase of 2.8%. Rail travel between Finland and Russia increased 26.1% to 337,000 journeys.
Commuter journeys in the Greater Helsinki area increased 2.3%, to a total of 52.1 million. Journeys in the area administered by the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV area) accounted for 41.2 million of these, an increase of almost 0.8%. Commuter journeys outside the YTV area totalled 10.9 million, increasing by 8.1%. Comparing the figures outside the YTV area is complicated because after the completion of the direct Kerava-Lahti line certain long-distance trains were included in the statistics for commuter services.
Passenger services recorded a net turnover of EUR 340.0 (320.4) million.
The number of journeys in passenger services has continued to grow in 2007. In January-February 16.9% more rail journeys were made than in the corresponding period in the previous year. The main reasons for this strong growth are the Kerava-Lahti direct line and shorter journey times.
Increase in road services
The Pohjolan Liikenne companies transported altogether 9.9 million tonnes of freight, an increase of 8.3% on the previous year. The number of bus and coach journeys totalled 11.7 million, 2.3% less than in the previous year. The net turnover of road services amounted to EUR 240.1 (209.1) million.
VR-Rata still the biggest track contractor
The net turnover for track construction and maintenance totalled EUR 232.6 (241.5) million. Most of the work was commissioned by the Finnish Rail Administration. VR-Track Ltd carried out just over half of the track work ordered by the Finnish Rail Administration.
Major superstructure work was carried out on altogether 230 kilometres of railway line. The largest projects were on the Turku-Toijala, Uimaharju-Lieksa, Seinäjoki-Oulu, Misi-Kuusivaara, Pännäinen-Pietarsaari, Haviseva-Orivesi and Pihlajavesi-Myllymäki line sections.
There were major marshalling yard projects in Vaasa and Imatra. The superstructure work, electrification and installation of signalling equipment were completed on the Kerava-Lahti direct line.
Volume of investments fell significantly
VR Group’s capital expenditure totalled EUR 110.3 (210.2) million, including EUR 58.7 (172.0) million for rolling stock for VR Ltd.
The expenditure on rolling stock was mainly the final instalments of earlier orders. All the new rolling stock was in service during 2006. Other investments were mainly normal replacement of fixed assets.
Source VR 29.3
Source WWW
http://www.vrgroup.fi/vakiolinkit/VRinforms/news_105.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.11) Gecko/20070312 Firefox/1.5.0.11
Arctic temperatures have disrupted rail services across Finland with delays up to an hour or more on some routes reported. Further timetable chaos is predicted as the bitterly cold weather continues. On Wednesday afternoon, services in eastern areas were running about 15 minutes while delays on services between Helsinki and Tampere extended to between 15 and 30 minutes. Hardest hit with long distance trains between Helsinki and Oulu with reported delays as much as 50 minutes.
Some earlier services experienced worse delays or were cancelled as frozen locomotives failed to operate. Some local trains in the Helsinki area were also subject to delays. Further service disruptions are forecast for Thursday morning as temperatures plummet, for example, in eastern areas to almost minus 40 degrees Celsius.
Source Yle 6.2
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id53003.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.9) Gecko/20061206 Firefox/1.5.0.9
Finnish State Railways VR plans to increase the number of transit automobiles it transports from Hanko on the south west coast to Russia. The aim is to transfer around 40,000 vehicles to rail transport over the next two years from the port of Hanko. If implemented, the scheme would greatly reduce the number of heavy car transporters using the roads in southern Finland. Last year, VR transported some 15,000 vehicles on its rail network. A total of 420,000 automobiles were imported through the port of Hanko in 2006, most of which usually continued via car transporter or lorry to Russia. According to VR's plan, a Russian car terminal should be ready this autumn with extra rolling stock available next year.
Source Yle 6.2
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/id52777.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.9) Gecko/20061206 Firefox/1.5.0.9
The Finnish state-run railway company VR believes that freight transport on the Trans-Siberian Railway through Russia to the Far East will experience a revival this year. Russia has announced a 35 percent cut in the price of hauling container freight on the railway. VR is waiting for the price discount to significantly increase its container transport to and from Korea, Japan, and China. According to VR Cargo, the reduction in price means that rail transport will again be competitive compared with maritime transport.
Container transport on the Trans-Siberian Railway had increased for several years until Russia doubled its cargo fees a year ago. The decision brought VR's transport through Siberia down to a fraction of what it had been.
In 2005 VR carried 100,000 container units through Siberia - about two or three trains a day - at a value of several million euros.
VR brings electronics and other consumer goods, mainly from Korea, but to some extent from Japan and China as well. One fifth of the containers go back the same route, taking European goods to the Far East.
The price cut is not expected to lead to an immediate surge in goods transport on the railway, as companies generally sign long-term transport contracts. Matti Andersson, head of marketing at VR, says that he expects transport through Siberia to grow in the second half of this year.
Source YLE 29.1
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id52314.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.9) Gecko/20061206 Firefox/1.5.0.9
Mikhail Akulov, Vice-President of Russian Railways and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oy Karelian Trains Ltd., announced that “five companies applied to participate in the tender for high-speed rolling stock for use on the express run between St Petersburg and Helsinki: ALSTOM, SIEMENS, BOMBARDIER, TALGO and CAF. All application packages have been submitted in accordance with the documentation required by the Board of Directors at Oy Karelian Trains Ltd, which set out the technical specifications of the rolling stock, price estimates etc.” The rolling stock will consist of motorised coaches, which must be developed, assembled and tested in accordance with European standards and meet modern standards of speed, comfort and safety. Akulov said that “we will now await the formal proposals from the plants and manufacturers taking part in the tender. A working group has been set up to study the applications, after which the Board of Directors at Oy Karelian Trains Ltd will select a winner of the tender and conclude a contract for the delivery of the motorised coaches for the St Petersburg-Helsinki high-speed route.
Source JSC Russian Railways
Source WWW
http://www.eng.rzd.ru/news.html
Reported by Phil Lockwood
<phil_lockwood5@yahoo.co.uk>
Sent from host 80.41.34.15 with browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1)
A record 65.0 million journeys were made by rail in 2006. The number of journeys rose by 2.8% in long-distance rail traffic and by 2.2% in commuter services in the Helsinki area.
When it started the New Train Era on 3 September 2006, VR reorganized its long-distance and commuter services. Travel between Riihimäki and Lahti became part of the commuter services, where before it was part of long-distance services. For this reason the figures for 2005 and 2006 are not directly comparable.
Last year altogether 12.8 million journeys were made in long-distance traffic, compared with 12.5 million in 2005. The number of rail journeys between Finland and Russia increased 26.1% to an all time record of 337,000.
Rail journeys in the YTV area administered by the Helsinki metropolitan area council inc-reased by 0.8%, to a total of 41.2 million. Outside this area, the number of commuter rail journeys in the Helsinki area increased by 8.1% to 10.9 million.
A record 43.6 million tonnes of freight were carried by rail during 2006. This was an increase of 7.0% on the 40.7 million tonnes in the previous year. Domestic carryings increased by 10.6%. A total of 26.0 million tonnes were carried.
Freight traffic between Finland and Russia declined 2.7%, to 12.6 million tonnes. The volu-me of transit freight traffic via Finland to other countries was 4.2 million tonnes, 25.3% more than in 2005.
Source VR 9.1
Source WWW
http://www.vrgroup.fi/vakiolinkit/VRinforms/news_102.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.9) Gecko/20061206 Firefox/1.5.0.9
Rail services were cut off on Wednesday between Turku and Tampere, and between Kajaani and Oulu. There were also problems in the southeast.
The storm which swept over Finland on Tuesday night and Wednesday blew trees down on electric lines, causing problems for the railways, and leaving many households in Southern and Western Finland temporarily without electricity.
The track between Tampere and Turku was cut off from the morning until half past eight in the evening because of an electric failure in Humppila. The storm had blown a tree down over an electric line. Buses were called in to replace the missing trains. The track between Kajaani and Oulu was out of commission from five in the morning until nine in the evening.
Changing weather brought some long-awaited snow to Southern Finland on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Traffic problems were reported in the south of Finland. Police reported 18 accidents, including one fatality in the Uusimaa area. Skies began clearing up at about ten in the morning. Temperatures are expected to drop on Thursday evening, leading to possible icy roads in the south of Finland.
Wednesday's storm caused power cuts affecting up to 16,000 households in the west and southwest, and in West Uusimaa, which are served by the power company Fortum. High winds and falling trees caused damage to a few residential buildings in Helsinki.
The sea level rose by about one metre, but turned downward again on Wednesday before noon. In Helsinki, some seaside walking paths were submerged. The water level rose to 99 centimetres above average, which is ten centimetres short of the emergency level. The crew on the marine research vessel Aranda, which started a winter study voyage, were optimistic that the storm in the ice-free Gulf of Finland might help improve the oxygen situation in deeper parts of the Gulf. Results of samples to be taken will come in just over two weeks.
Temperature records for January were set on Tuesday night. At Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, the temperature reached 8.2° Celsius. The previous record for January, 7.6°C, was set in January 1973. The average high temperature at this time of the year in the south of Finland is between zero and -2°C. Usually the winter in the south of Finland is at its coldest in early February.
A group of surfers appeared on the beach in Emäsalo in Porvoo to take advantage of the waves stirred up by the storm. Surfing is possible on the south coast of Finland only on a few days of the year, and in few places.
Source HS 11.1.2007
Source WWW
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/1135224233298
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.9) Gecko/20061206 Firefox/1.5.0.9
The Finnish Rail Administration is planning to launch a safety campaign on railway level crossings. The campaign, which is scheduled to begin next spring, will particularly be directed towards young people and those living near train tracks. Last week, four accidents occurred at crossings in Finland - resulting in two deaths.
In addition to the public campaign, the administration will also try to reduce the number of crossings and increase the number of underpasses. It also plans to clear trees near crossings to improve visibility, and is mapping out the most dangerous crossings in the country.
According to the administration, it will take time to improve the safety at level crossings. The administration added that it lacks the funds to rapidly do away with unattended level crossings.
Officials say most accidents at level crossings occur due to carelessness. Approximately 50 accidents at level crossings occur annually, while about 3,000 unattended level crossings still exist in Finland.
Despite the recent deaths, the number of casualties at level crossings is less than last year, when 8 people died in such accidents.
Source Yle 18.12
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id49546.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.8) Gecko/20061025 Firefox/1.5.0.8
VR has opened a new service on its Internet website to give customers up-to-date information about rail services. With this service passengers can check if trains are running on time.
The service has two parts: train timetable information and service updates. The first of these services provides passengers with information about long-distance rail services, based either on a station or a train number. The service shows all the trains running at that particular moment at 44 monitoring stations. The search function shows the arrival and departure time according to the timetable, estimated and actual times, as well as the reason for delays. Train timetable information is updated round the clock.
Service updates report briefly on any disruptions to commuter or long-distance services. A service update is published when several trains are more than 15 minutes late, or if a rail service is cancelled or for example replaced by a bus service. The service is updated during the week each day between 6 am and 10 pm and at the weekend between 7 am and 10 pm. The service updates are also shown on teletext on page 431.
VR’s Internet pages are one of the most popular websites in Finland. Each month 600,000–700,000 people visit the VR Internet site. Almost all of them are looking for timetable information. Other popular services are price and ticket information and information about stations and trains.
Surveys show that the Internet is the most important source of information about VR for its customers. 72 per cent of its customers use the Internet website, and 61 per cent of customers consider this to be the best source of information.
VR’s online sales have grown in three years to become a major sales channel, for they account for about 10 per cent of sales. In the autumn VR was placed sixth in a comparison of web brands conducted by market research company Taloustutkimus, in which 4,700 Internet users assessed Finnish Internet websites.
Source VR 7.12
Source WWW
http://www.vrgroup.fi/vakiolinkit/VRinforms/news_100.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:1.8.0.8) Gecko/20061025 Firefox/1.5.0.8
VR Ltd and Russian railway company OAO RZD have set up a joint rolling stock company for high speed services between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. VR Ltd and OAO Transcontainer, subsidiary of RZD, have also established a sales company to market container transport services.
Oy Karelian Trains Ltd
Oy Karelian Trains Ltd is a company which will acquire high speed trains and maintenance services for services between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. VR and RZD each own 50% of the company.
M. P. Akulov, Vice President, OAO RZD was chosen as chairman of the board. The president of the company is VR Passenger Services project manager, M.Sc. (Eng.) Ilkka Keränen. The registered office of the company is in Helsinki.
An international bidding competition will be organised for the acquisition of rolling stock.
In addition to new rolling stock, achieving faster travel times requires track investments in both countries and conducting all border formalities on the moving train. The aim is to reduce the travel time between Helsinki and St. Petersburg from the current five and a half hours to three hours.
A total of 267 000 journeys were made between Finland and Russia in 2005. The figure indicates a growth of 6% when compared with the previous year. Growth for 2006 is expected to be at least 15%.
Oy TransContainer Scandinavia Ltd
Oy TransContainer Scandinavia Ltd, jointly owned by VR and Transcontainer (50/50), will market container transport services to Russia, other CIS countries and also to e.g. China and Korea. Furthermore, the company will intensify marketing for the Helsinki-Moscow container train.
The registered office of the company is in Helsinki. Personnel have not yet been chosen.
In 2005 container transport by rail between Finland and Russia amounted to 125 000 TEU. A total of 80% of the containers was transported between Finland and the Far East. TEU is a unit of measurement equivalent to one 20-foot container.
Source VR 23.11
Source WWW
http://www.vrgroup.fi/vakiolinkit/VRinforms/news_99.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.8) Gecko/20061025 Firefox/1.5.0.8
Transport will be high on the agenda during Russian President Vladimir Putin's working visit to Helsinki on Thursday. Putin is to hold talks on bilateral issues with President Tarja Halonen prior to his participation in Friday's EU-Russia summit.
At the same time, it is expected that the CEOs of Finland's VR (Finnish Railways) and the Russian rail operator RZD will sign a cooperation agreement that is geared towards cutting the time taken to travel between Helsinki and St. Petersburg.
In addition to rail matters, the two heads of state will discuss the vexed question of truck lines at the Finnish-Russian border and problems that have arisen over the import of Russian raw timber.
VR and its Russian counterpart RZD are to set up a joint equally-owned rolling stock enterprise. This company will acquire the high-speed tilting electric train equipment that the two partners will then lease back in the future.
New locomotives and rolling stock are required in order to remove the need for engine changes at the border. The Russian and Finnish electrical systems are different, and new locomotives should be able to operate under both grid systems.
At present the journey between the Finnish capital and St. Petersburg takes around five hours, but in a few years' time it is hoped that this can be reduced to three hours.
Hitting such a target will nevertheless require a good deal of work on the track on both sides of the border - in order to allow the 220 km/hour maximum speeds envisaged - and also the speeding up of Russian border formalities.
The Finnish President has already announced that she will be bringing up the question of the long lines of trucks that have been an almost constant source of friction and annoyance in south-eastern Finland of late.
The two leaders will also discuss the recent hikes on customs duties payable on raw timber from Russia, which have caused problems in the procurement of wood raw materials for the Finnish forest products industry. Halonen will also raise human rights questions.
President Putin is arriving at Helsinki-Vantaa International at 16:00, and will head for the Presidential Palace, where the two leaders will have talks, hold a joint press conference, and then adjourn for a working dinner.
Accompanying Putin on the visit will be the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Economics and Trade German Gref and Minister of Transport Igor Levitin, together with representatives of the Russian border guard, customs, and local government leaders from the St. Petersburg region.
Source HS 23.11
Source WWW
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Agreement+on+fast+rail+service+to+St+Petersburg+expected+during+Putin+visit/1135223183380
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.8) Gecko/20061025 Firefox/1.5.0.8
VR’s freight service volumes rose in January-August to the average level for the past few years, having fallen short of this in 2005 due to the labour dispute in the forest industry.
In passenger services, long distance travel and the commuter services in the Greater Helsinki area operated by VR continued to grow. The impact of the Kerava-Lahti direct line does not yet show in the interim report since the line was opened at the beginning of September.
VR’s consolidated net turnover in January-August was M€ 806.6 (M€ 771.5 the previous year). The operating profit was M€ 30.9 (M€ 23.7) and the net profit M€ 23.4 (M€ 19.2). Last year the net profit was reduced by the labour dispute in the forest industry mentioned above. This year the rise in energy costs has weakened the net profit.
Long-distance services on the increase
The number of journeys in long-distance rail services increased 4.0 % from the previous year. The figure includes travel between Finland and Russia, where the number of journeys increased by more than 20 %.
The number of journeys in commuter services in the Greater Helsinki area increased 1.7 %, with growth of 1.2 % in the YTV zone - the zone administered by the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen) - and 4.0 % in commuter services outside this zone.
The punctuality of rail services remained good. In long-distance services, 90 % of the trains arrived on time or no more than five minutes late. The figure for commuter services was 97 % of the trains on time or no more than three minutes late. These figures are among the best in Europe.
Freight services at normal levels
Freight carryings rose to 29 million tonnes, which is a good average for the past few years. Domestic carryings accounted for 17.0 million tonnes of this.
Traffic between Finland and Russia increased 3.9 %. The structure of this traffic changed. Traffic that originated or had its destination in Finland, which consists mainly of round timber and chemical industry imports, declined 2.0 %. In contrast transit volumes through Finland, which is mainly from Russia to third countries, increased 27.2 %.
Capital expenditure on the decline
During the review period capital expenditure totalled M€ 72.5 (M€ 140.3). The largest items were for passenger rolling stock ordered previously, such as sleeping cars and railcars, and for the final payments on the Pendolino trains. A total of M€ 35.5 was spent on passenger rolling stock.
The number of VR Group’s personnel declined by 1.1 % from the previous year. On average the Group employed 12,667 people during January-August.
Source VR 11.10
Source WWW
http://www.vrgroup.fi/vakiolinkit/VRinforms/news_98.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.7) Gecko/20060909 Firefox/1.5.0.7
A winter blizzard with heavy snow and sleet continues to cause train delays and hazardous roads in southern and central Finland. The storm has also cut off power to thousands of homes since Tuesday evening.
Rail passengers have experienced serious delays particularly on trains operating via Tampere, where snow choked junction points leading to a wide disruption of services. Finnish State Railways VR says timetables are getting back to normal but some delays are still anticipated.
Source YLE 1.11
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id46304.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.7) Gecko/20060909 Firefox/1.5.0.7
Ex JMR No.5 (W&L No.15, Orion) has returned to Finland after nearly 35 years in Great Britain to join her sister, No.4, at the Jokioinen Museum Railway (Jokioisten Museorautatie). The locomotive left Llanfair Caereinion on Thursday 28 September in time for a Friday, 29 September sailing from Harwich on board Mann Lines M/S "Estraden". The locomotive reached Turku, Finland on 3 October and was immediately transported by road transport to the Jokioinen Museum Railway depot at Minkio.
To view some photographs of Number 5's journey please log onto the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway website:
http://www.wllr.org.uk
Source Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway Website
Source WWW
http://www.wllr.org.uk
Reported by Derek Van Ryne
<mrgargoyle84show@aol.com>
Sent from host 195.93.102.42 with browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; AOL 9.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
Equipment failure disrupted rail services in southern Finland on Sunday afternoon. Trains came to a halt for well over an hour due to a fault in remote control equipment. Both long distance and commuter services are running again but Finnish State Railways VR advised passengers to expect some delays on Sunday evening.
Services were disrupted completely from Lahti to Riihimäki and Kerava. Around ten trains were stranded on the tracks.
Source Yle 8.10
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id44789.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.7) Gecko/20060909 Firefox/1.5.0.7
The Board of Directors of Russian Railways has approved the charter documents for a Russian-Finnish joint venture, Oy Karelian Trains Ltd., which is being set up by Russian Railways and VR Ltd. of Finland with a charter capital of EUR 1 million, announced the Company’s Vice-President Mikhail Akulov. Each parent company will hold 50% of the shares.
The new company will be registered in Helsinki and be able to purchase rolling stock, organise technical servicing during the operational period and transfer rolling stock belonging to VR Ltd. and Russian Railways for commercial operation on a leasing basis. The company will organise high-speed electric trains between St. Petersburg and Helsinki. The new service expected is to come into operation during 4Q 2009 and cut the trip between the two cities to 3.5 hours, reducing the time by about two hours. The trains will leave St. Petersburg from the famous Finland Station.
The high-speed service will use tilting, dual-system electric trains capable of maximum speed of 220 kilometres per hour. Each train will be able to carry 300 passengers and be made up of 7 coaches, with one business class coach, 5 second-class coaches and a restaurant car with a separate compartment for smokers. First-class tickets are expected to cost EUR 110 and second-class tickets EUR 69.4.
The charter documents are due be signed in October 2006. At the moment, two trains operate between St. Petersburg and Helsinki: the Russian branded express train Repin and the Finnish branded express train Sibelius, which depart every day from Ladoga Station in St. Petersburg for Helsinki and travel via Vyborg and Vainikkala. The current run takes about 5.5 hours, with first-class tickets costing EUR 89.1 and second-class tickets EUR 50.8.
Source JSC Russian Railways
Source WWW
http://www.eng.rzd.ru
Reported by Phil Lockwood
<phil_lockwood5@yahoo.co.uk>
Sent from host 80.47.245.81 with browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1)
At the Annual Steam Gala on Sunday 3rd September, the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway announced:
An understanding had been reached with visiting officials from the Jokioisten Museorautatie (Jokioisten Museum Railway) to return ex JR5 to its original line in Finland before the end of September. W&L No.15 'Orion’ left Jokioinen for the UK in 1972 and was eventually purchased by the W&L in 1983. After extensive rebuilding, it entered service in 2000.
The 2ft 6in gauge railway's board has looked favourably on a request from the 1948-built locomotives 'home' line in Finland for it to be repatriated, if a final price can be agreed.
The Belgian built locomotive supplied new to the Jokioinen Railway, is the biggest to be steamed on the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway. Officials from the Finnish Line will be making a final inspection of "Orion" during the gala prior to concluding the purchase, and therefore it is likely that it's final run in steam in Great Britain will be on the Sunday, 03rd September 2006.
Source 'Heritage Railway' Magazine September 2006
Source WWW
http://www.wllr.org.uk/
Reported by Derek Van Ryne
<mrgargoyle84show@aol.com>
Sent from host 195.93.102.42 with browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; AOL 9.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; FunWebProducts; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
The government can be expected to foot a significant portion of the costs in the construction of the Espoo metro, promises Minister of Finance Eero Heinäluoma. According to Heinäluoma, the state will cover at least 30 percent of the project.
He says that the metro could help Espoo as well as the entire capital region grow and develop and will benefit the climate.
The government is expected to make a decision on its share of the costs this autumn.
Espoo City Council Approves Metro
The Espoo City Council gave its approval to the extension of the Helsinki Metro along the city's south coast on Monday. In a meeting stretching late into the night, the council voted 45 to 19 to the give the green light to a project costing around 500 million euros.
Espoo City Council certainly did not plan to go the journey alone paying the full fare. Before approving the plan, the council set 12 conditions, one which said the state must foot one-third of the bill.
It will still be more than a decade before red Metro trains actually start easing traffic bootlenecks in Espoo.
For her part, Transport and Communications Minister Susanna Huovinen says the question of financing will receive government attention this autumn.
If construction eventually goes ahead, the metro might help in relieving traffic jams. It would also connect shopping and residential areas like Tapiola with the Helsinki city centre much to the joy of traders and consumers alike. Many, though, fear the metro could bring with it densely constructed suburbs in areas close to stations.
The proposed route would see the present Helsinki metro extended through Lauttasaari to Matinkylä via Tapiola. A further extension would take commuters to and from Kivenlahti.
Espoo has pondered the construction of a metro railway for three decades. Given that financing and construction details are still in their infancy there is no clear signal that the long wait for trains is over yet.
Source Yle 26.9
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id43841.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
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The inauguration of a direct rail line between Kerava in the Helsinki region, and Lahti will bring faster train connections between Helsinki to Lahti and further to the east of Finland. The knock-on effects will be felt in train schedules around the country. Nearly all departure and arrival times are set to change on Sunday. Unaffected will be local services between Helsinki and Kerava. Train timetables have been planned so that connecting trains will arrive at junction stations at about the same time. The new direct line between Kerava and Lahti will alter arrival times especially at the key eastern junctions of Kouvola and Pieksämäki.
In addition to the new track, the Finnish rail company VR is taking delivery of new equipment this autumn, and track in different parts of the country has been upgraded. The changes allow for higher speeds and shorter travel times in many areas - not just the east.
In addition to reducing travel time between Helsinki and Lahti - to just 48 minutes with some connections - the direct line will bring rail services to more than 100,000 people served by the new line. This will especially benefit commuters living in Mäntsälä. Travel times from Helsinki to Kajaani, Kuopio, Mikkeli, and Joensuu will be up to one hour shorter than before.
However, not everyone is a winner. Travel time from Ostrobothnia and Tampere to the southeast will increase slightly, as Riihimäki will no longer be the transfer point. Travellers will have to transfer at Tikkurila, closer to Helsinki. The faster Pendolino trains will start bypassing both Riihimäki and Hämeenlinna without stopping.
Night train services to the east are also set to end, and the last train to Lahti from Helsinki will leave earlier than before - 10:22 PM.
Source HS 1.9
Source WWW
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Inauguration+of+new+rail+line+to+change+nearly+all+train+schedules/1135221349047
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
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The metropolitan area train service company, owned by Finnish Railways (VR) together with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo, and Kauniainen, has decided to order 32 new commuter trains to cater for the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council's (YTV) suburban traffic needs. The rolling stock is to come from the Swiss Stadler Bussnang AG. The sale price is EUR 189 million, excluding the trackside and signalling equipment, which are to be purchased separately.
The ordered single-deck trains are 75 metres long. Each unit seats 250 passengers with standing room for another 250 persons.
Stadler Rail has two factories, one in Switzerland and the other in Germany. The trains for Finland will be manufactured at the Bussnang facility in the north-east of Switzerland. The first two trains, the so-called preliminary series, will commence operation in the capital area towards the end of 2009. The whole set should be in Helsinki by 2014.
The new trains will gradually replace VR's outdated Sm-1 units, which are to be scrapped. The capital area train service company holds an option to order seven additional trains for the same price at a later date.
In the end, Stadler's bid was the most economical. The asking price of the Swiss manufacturer was clearly lower than that of the other finalist, Alstom of France. Other contributing factors were the quality of the offered technology and the assuredness of delivery.
The competition between Stadler and Alstom was severe, and the train service company kept requesting more defined offers from both manufacturers throughout the summer. Ultimately Stadler's more attractive price won it the contract.
On Thursday, the train company decided it will negotiate the financing deal with the Finnish arm of the Swedish Handelsbanken Finans AB. A separate bidding contest will be organised later to determine the provider of the necessary trackside and signalling equipment. The additional expenses will hoist the total price of the project well above the EUR 200 million mark.
Source HS 1.9
Source WWW
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Swiss+company+to+supply+Helsinkis+new+commuter+trains/1135221349389
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.6) Gecko/20060728 Firefox/1.5.0.6
A new rail line between Helsinki and Lahti began regular services on Sunday. New train timetables also came into force throughout the country. Two new train stations between Helsinki and Lahti, in Mäntsälä and Haarajoki, also opened. The new rail link cuts travel time between Helsinki and Lahti from 1.5 hours to just around an hour. The rail will also speed up train travel between Helsinki and eastern Finland by about half an hour.
The new 74-kilometre rail link has been four years in the making and cost over 300 million euros.
Rail Reforms Stop Services to Some Areas
Reforms by the Finnish rail company VR also means that some services have been terminated. The time-honoured night train between Helsinki and Kajaani has been discontinued, as has the night train between Turku and Joensuu. Also, a direct night train to Kemijärvi has temporarily stopped running, however connections from Rovaniemi to Kemijärvi will continue through the end of the year.
Faster Pendolino trains will no longer stop in Hämeenlinna. Furthermore, trains will no longer service Taavetti, Jalasjärvi, Härmä, Kuivaniemi or Ii.
Source Yle 3.9
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/id42142.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
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Night train services from Helsinki to Oulu, via Kouvola and Kajaani, as well as overnight trains from Turku to Joensuu, were put to rest over the weekend. The trains made their final journey on Saturday night. In addition, the direct service night train from Helsinki to Kemijärvi was temporarily discontinued on Sunday.
Henri Kuitunen, president and CEO of Finnish rail company VR, has been contacted by 5,000 people this summer protesting the termination of services. Overnight trains between Helsinki and Rovaniemi and Helsinki and Kolari continue to operate.
Source Yle 2.9
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/id42107.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.6) Gecko/20060728 Firefox/1.5.0.6
A new direct rail line between Kerava and Lahti in southern Finland promises to ease transportation woes for those travelling from the regions serviced by Highway Four. The new 74-kilometre rail link has been four years in the making, cost over 300 million euros, and could cut travel times for people travelling from the south-east to Helsinki by as much as an hour.
The new connection follows roughly the same route as Highway Four, but could result in a faster transit time for the more than 100,000 people who take this route into Helsinki. Journeys from Lahti to Helsinki, in particular, are expected to be as much as half an hour shorter, once trains take to the new tracks.
The Kerava-Lahti line will be commissioned on Friday, with regular traffic beginning two days later. Once its schedule is established, train timetables all over the country will be adjusted to accommodate it.
Source Yle 2.9
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/id42033.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.129.41 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.6) Gecko/20060728 Firefox/1.5.0.6
Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler Bussnang AG is to supply 32 new trains for local rail traffic in the metropolitan Helsinki region. The deal is worth 189 million euros.
The new trains have a length of 75 metres and a unit seating capacity of 250. The first of the new trains are due to enter service at the end of this decade and will replace older rolling stock.
Five European rolling stock manufacturers placed tenders for the deal. Finnish passenger car manufacturer Talgo Oy hopes to gain some supply work from the deal.
Source Yle 31.8
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/id42008.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
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Police investigating the fire that gutted old railway warehouses in central Helsinki in May say the blaze might not have been a case of arson. Lighter fluid was not to blame as previously thought, police say. Police think it is likely that the perpetrator of the fire did not actually intend to destroy the building. However, the possibility of arson has not been completely ruled out.
The fire simmered for several hours before engulfing the warehouses. Causes of such fires are usually faulty wiring, cigarettes and small fireworks.
The identification of those responsible for the blaze remains a mystery and police have not found any link with, for example, public disturbances during May Day festivities.
Source Yle 14.7
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id38560.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
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Long-term development of services has led to an increase in family travel
VR introduces during the summer 28 refurbished double-deck coaches with new playrooms. The new coaches will be introduced in phases so that the majority will be in service in September. The first refurbished playroom coach is introduced on 14 July. Families are a significant customer group in train travel as their number has grown to constitute nearly 20% of total passenger volume. VR and its partners have developed tickets and services for families since the beginning of 1980s. The new playrooms are the latest example of this long-term development work.
New playroom design based on customers' wishes
The new playroom is located on the upper deck of the so-called service coach. The playroom design is based on customers' wishes. Special attention was paid on safety, cleanliness and making the journey an experience. The space was designed by an interior designer from Helsinki, Marianne Manninen.
Safety gates with improved locking mechanisms have been fitted at both ends of the compartment. The slide gradient has been reduced and a safety rail installed at the top. The locomotive has been moved to the lower level of the playroom. There are no loose toys in the new playroom as all furniture is fixed.
The playroom has a lively look. New fittings are a castle wall with a funny mirror. The familiar locomotive and children's chairs from the old playroom have received a new look. Some modifications have also been made in the family compartment.
The renewal more than quadruples the playroom area. An even bigger part of upper deck seats are offered to family passengers than before. The service coach now also has more space for prams.
Playroom cars of the blue express trains are withdrawn from service on 3 September when InterCity trains will operate on all main routes. Over 80 InterCity services are available at that time in various parts of the country.
Tammi children's characters make the trip more enjoyable
The new playroom will feature Tammi Publishers' children's characters even more prominently. The service coach where the playroom is located, can be identified by the stickers of children's characters Myyrä, Felix-pupu and Risto Räppääjä on the exterior and the interior of the coach.
Children can read Tammi books during the trip. The playroom has over 30 story or picture books. Swedish books are also now available. The selection is supplemented regularly.
Conductors also give child passengers children's tickets which feature Tammi children's characters. There are six different tickets.
VR started to develop services for children with Tammi in 2002. Almost 1.8 million train tickets for under six-year-old children have been printed between 2002 and 2006. Between 2002 and 2005 a total of 4 660 Tammi children's books have been available on trains.
Strong growth in family ticket sales
An increasing number of families choose the train as their mode of transport because it is possible to move about on the train and spend some time together. Demand for VR family tickets has grown strongly during the last four years.
In 2001 nearly 300 000 journeys were made with a family ticket but in 2005 the number had grown to almost 650 000. Two years ago the right to use the family ticket was extended to a bigger group of passengers which has influenced the growth in ticket sales.
With a VR family ticket a 6 to 16-year-old child travels free of charge on a seat on a long-distance train even when accompanied by only one adult. All children under six travel free of charge on a train if a seat is not booked for them.
New playrooms part of a bigger whole
The new playrooms are part of a project started in spring in which services in InterCity trains are improved by renewing the coaches. During the summer of 2006 compartments for business travellers, passengers with pets and smokers are also renewed.
Changes are made to nearly 120 coaches. Renewal of IC coaches costs nearly 1.2 million euros. Costs for renewing the playrooms amount to over half a million euros.
The project is part of the new train age which starts on 3 September. With the start of the new train age VR has at its disposal all new rolling stock acquired in the last few years.
Source VR 10.7
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/yhtyma/uuttae.html#100706
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060508 Firefox/1.5.0.4
Travel in VR’s long-distance rail services grew in January-April compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. Freight traffic between Finland and Russia decreased significantly, mainly due to reductions in round timber and container carryings. Domestic freight traffic in contrast rose slightly. Work on the state-owned track network was less than during the corresponding period in the previous year.
The reductions in carryings to and from Russia and in track work, coupled with the increase in energy costs, weakened VR Group’s net result in the first part of the year. The consolidated net turnover for January-April was M€ 371.4 (M€ 373.8). The operating profit was M€ 0.5 (M€ 6.0) and the net profit M€ 0.8 (M € 5.5).
The number of journeys in long-distance rail services increased 3.4 % in the first part of the year. In commuter traffic in the Greater Helsinki area, the strong growth experienced last year came to an end and the number of journeys declined 0.8 %. Overall the level of rail travel remained unchanged from the previous year.
Freight traffic over the border between Finland and Russia decreased altogether 8.6 % at the start of the year. The largest product group in this traffic, forest industry carryings, experienced the biggest decline in volumes, 10.5 %. Most of these were imports of round timber. Container transport on the Trans-Siberian railway also decreased considerably due to the increase in Russian freight charges.
Domestic freight traffic rose 0.7 %.
The level of investment in track construction and maintenance is low during the winter, so the operating result for the track work business area is usually a loss at the start of the year. This year the amount of work was even less than in the previous year and less than normal.
The number of VR Group personnel declined 1.0 %. On average the Group employed 12 550 people.
Capital expenditure in January-April totalled M€ 39.1. Of this, M€ 23.1 was spent on payments for earlier rolling stock orders. VR now has in service mainly rolling stock that has been ordered in the past few years.
Source VR 13.6
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/yhtyma/uuttae.html#130606
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
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National rail freight traffic in Finland is to be opened to competition at the start of next year, under new legal provisions signed by President Halonen.
Competition for freight services in Finland will be open from the beginning of 2007. However, the actual impact of an open market in rail freight services is not expected to be substantial. So far only one company, the Estonian AS Spacecom, has announced interest in entering a contest for contracts.
Passenger rail services will still remain the monopoly of the state rail company VR, and the competition regulations will not apply to rail traffic between Finland and Russia.
EU directives on rail safety will also be incorporated into the new legislation.
Source YLE 29.6
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/id37540.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060508 Firefox/1.5.0.4
Finnish police say that they have a few suspects in the fire on May 5 at the old condemned railway warehouses in the centre of Helsinki. The suspects include two boys under the age of 15 who were apprehended by police last week. The other suspects are adults.
Police will not yet say if there have been any arrests. Nobody has been remanded. There is also no information being given out on when or where the fire may have started. Police have interrogated more than 50 people and interviews about 200 over the blaze.
Unrest which broke out at the warehouses in the early hours of May the First, a few days before the fire, will not have major implications on how police prepare for the Finnish EU Presidency, which begins in July. Police believe that the lighting of bonfires outside the buildings, and the stoning of police and firefighters were a spontaneous reaction, not planned in advance.
Source VR News 19.5
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/id34691.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.3) Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
The forensic examination of the arson of the former Finnish Railways warehouses in central Helsinki is at a delicate stage. The police confirm a clearer picture is emerging of the immediate events at the warehouses prior to the blaze, but admit that there are still some blank areas in the sequence of events.
'We're progressing steadily. We are pleased to have found individuals who were in the neighbourhood just before the fire took place', confirms chief inspector Kari Tolvanen of the Helsinki Criminal Police.
On Monday, for example, the police heard around a dozen people with first-hand information about the events. 'But we are still missing individuals who were in the immediate vicinity of the lighting of the blaze', Tolvanen explains. The investigators are particularly interested in hearing these people. A key witness or the main culprit could be found among them.
'And this is what worries people', Tolvanen points out. 'But we have ways of establishing whether a person is a suspect or merely a witness.'
Tolvanen refrains from revealing if any arrests are in the offing, or if any have been made yet. The technical details revealed by the forensic examination, such as whether the fire started from one place or from several locations simultaneously, are also kept from the public at this stage. 'The perpetrator knows the details, and so do we', Tolvanen confirms.
The investigation into the cause of the fire continued on Monday, after a digger was used to pull down one of the walls of the southern warehouse. This was done to facilitate further forensic examinations.
'We have found interesting stuff there, but these details are not yet publishable.'
The investigators took apart, combed, and screened the area, collecting samples in plastic bags, which will later be examined in a forensic lab, for example, for traces of lighter fluid. The police have also gone through the mass of photographs and video clips taken by the public, as well as images published on the Internet.
According to Tolvanen, at this stage there is no reason to suspect that the Friday arson and the May Day Eve rioting would have anything to do with each other, apart from sharing the same location. 'Both events are being investigated in adjacent rooms and information is shared smoothly', Tolvanen confirms.
The work of demolishing the former warehouses began on Monday on schedule. Workmen removed the roof of the northern wing of the buildings, which was not affected by Friday's fire. The southern section of the site is still cordoned off for the police experts to work on, but it is not thought that the presence of the police will greatly affect the timetable of the demolition work, unless the police investigations become unexpectedly lengthy. The original plans called for the site to be cleared by mid-August.
Friday's fire had certainly increased the presence of police and security guards on the site on Monday. None but the demolition workers were allowed through the perimeter fence around the area.
Source HS 9.5
Source WWW
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Criminal+police+hear+several+people+over+arson+of+railway+warehouses/1135219823095
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.3) Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
Police in Helsinki have spent the entire weekend investigating the arson that led on Friday evening to a massive fire at the railway warehouses in the immediate downtown area of the capital. One of the two former warehouses, already scheduled for imminent demolition to make way for a new Music Centre on this site, was practically razed to the ground in the blaze.
Police suspected arson within minutes of the first alarm, and forensic examinations on Saturday confirmed these suspicions. By Sunday night, they knew considerably more about the origins of the fire, and had made use of camera and video material from the many thousands who were on hand to watch the inferno.
Events began to unfold in the final act of the troubled drama of the railway warehouses just before 20:00 on Friday evening. As the sequence of time-lapse webcam pictures (see link below) shows, the fire broke out along practically the entire length of the southernmost warehouse, and within minutes the entire edifice was ablaze.
Fire-fighting units arrived quickly, but their role consisted mainly of damage limitation, as they sought to prevent the fire spreading to the other wing of the warehouses and to the small section of the building that is to be preserved after the area undergoes redevelopment.
The insides of the brick building contained a lot of timber structures and flammable debris - the building has already been condemned and demolition work was to have begun this week.
Police were immediately of the opinion that this was a case of aggravated arson, particularly as early examination of CCTV footage showed people running away from the scene at around 19:50, just before the first alarm was sounded.
The fire became a massive media event. On a pleasant sunny evening, many people were out and about in Helsinki and the spectacle drew large crowds in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Helsingin Sanomat offices at Sanomatalo, and on the steps of Parliament, which provided an excellent vantage point.
Around 20 units of the Helsinki Rescue Department were on hand to douse the flames. It took several hours to bring the blaze under control. There were no injuries as a result of the fire, but the thick plume of black smoke further worsened air quality in the downtown area and even led to the evacuation of around 1,000 people from the Tennispalatsi multiplex cinema nearby.
By Sunday evening, police said they now had a fairly accurate picture of what had taken place on Friday evening, and that the investigations had moved into an operative phase. It is reportedly known precisely where the fire was started, but police were withholding this information on Sunday for investigative reasons.
The demolition work on the warehouses began on schedule on Monday morning. However, the diggers and excavators could not access all areas of the site because of police cordons, as forensic examinations are still ongoing.
The plan is for the buildings to be dismantled by mid-August, making way for a new music centre on this prime downtown site. Initially it was intended that part of the warehouses would be spared and that the demolition work would permit certain items to be taken for museum use. The eastern end of the southern arm of the U-shaped building was to have been preserved. It is not clear how badly damaged this section was in the fire.
The warehouses were completed in 1899, and were used by Finnish Railways as goods depots until the late 1980s. Thereafter the area has been used by a number of cooperatives and others, with stores, flea markets, artists' studios, cafes, and concert and cultural venues. The markets became quite popular and famous during the 1990s.
When the first plans for the demolition of the site were put forward, a petition gathered 40,000 names in favour of preserving the buildings, which were also used in 2000 when Helsinki was a European Capital of Culture. The final death sentence was passed in 2002, since when the occupants have gradually moved out, and parts of the buildings are already semi-derelict. Only just over a week ago, the warehouses were the scene for an unusually violent alteraction between demonstrators and police and fire services on May Eve.
Whilst no perpetrators have been arrested for the arson as yet, both this incident and the May Eve scuffles are likely to result in calls for tighter security and a stronger police presence. In just two months from now Finland will be taking up the EU Presidency, and security is already a sensitive issue.
Source HS 8.5
Source WWW
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Police+make+progress+in+railway+warehouse+arson+investigations/1135219809749
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.3) Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
A major fire broke out at the old VR railway warehouses in central Helsinki on Friday evening. A column of heavy black smoke from the blaze was visible throughout the downtown area of the city. Several rescue and fire-fighting crews were on hand shortly after the fire began just before 8 pm.
Half an hour later the southern warehouse building was completely engulfed in flames. According to a YLE TV reporter at the scene, the building seemed likely to burn to the ground.
Authorities were taking steps to prevent the fire from spreading from the warehouse area. The nearest buildings are the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art and the Sanoma publishing company headquarters.
Thousands of people gathered nearby to watch the fire, but the mood was peaceful.
The fire was at the same site as a melee on May Day night in which protesters set a large fire and pelted police and fire-fighters with bottles, rocks and other projectiles.
About 150-200 young people were present during the incident. Of those, 17 have been questioned by the police. Two Helsinki men in their 20s have been charged in the case.
Demolition of the nineteenth-century brick buildings was to begin on Monday morning to make way for a new music hall. Over the past decade or so they had become an informal cultural centre. There had been considerable controversy about their demolition.
Source YLE 5.5
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id33702.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.3) Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
Completion of the Kerava-Lahti direct line on 3 September this year will speed up train journeys, increase the number of services and improve connections. It will also mean that all the rolling stock purchased by VR will be in service by the autumn, marking the most significant improvement in Finland’s rail traffic in decades.
The largest reductions in travel times will be evident in services to Eastern Finland. Train journeys from Helsinki to Kajaani, Kuopio, Mikkeli and Joensuu will be up to one hour shorter, and journeys to Lahti, Kouvola, Imatra, Lappeenranta and Savonlinna roughly half an hour. Services to and from Russia will be between 25 and 40 minutes faster.
The number of long-distance train services will increase by five per cent. New Pendolino and InterCity services will be introduced around the country, especially for the most popular morning and afternoon departures.
The volume of Pendolino services from Helsinki to Tampere, Jyväskylä and Kouvola will double. The number of InterCity trains will increase most strongly between Helsinki and Kouvola, to 25 compared to the 17 at present.
Almost all train departure and arrival times will change. The new timetables will be available on VR’s website, www.vr.fi, from 3 May.
Easier train connections
Morning services from Eastern Finland in the Helsinki direction will improve. A new morning Pendolino service, for example, will depart from Kuopio to Helsinki via Kouvola, leaving Kuopio at 5.45 and arriving in Helsinki at 9.48. The morning express train leaving Kouvola after six o’clock for Helsinki will be upgraded to an IC2 train and the travel time reduced by more than half an hour.
Train journeys between Vaasa and Helsinki will become faster likewise, although the number of connections requiring passengers to change trains will also increase. For example, instead of the current direct Vaasa-Helsinki InterCity service, the new service from Vaasa will mean changing to a Pendolino at Seinäjoki. The total travel time to Helsinki, however, will be some 45 minutes faster.
New, fast afternoon connections will be introduced between Helsinki and Tampere at almost one-hour intervals. An example is the fast Pendolino train departing Helsinki at 16.33.
Connections to Helsinki-Vantaa airport and to urban centres along the main line will become faster as all Pendolino trains will henceforth stop at Tikkurila. The same will apply to train services to Russia. A bus service will leave Tikkurila for the airport on weekdays at 10-15 minute intervals. The bus stop and taxi station are right next to the platform.
Each Pendolino train to Helsinki from the Tampere direction will stop at Tikkurila to allow east-bound passengers to change trains. The InterCity from Tampere will likewise have an eastern connection every hour. Using this service east-bound passengers will change trains at Riihimäki and Lahti but the overall travel time will be roughly the same as at present.
All new rolling stock in operation
Next autumn all the rolling stock ordered by VR will be in service. The busiest lines in Southern Finland from Helsinki to Tampere and Kouvola will be serviced almost exclusively using InterCity, InterCity2 and Pendolino trains. Low-floor city trains will be introduced for commuter services on the direct Kerava-Lahti line and for regional services between Helsinki and Tampere.
Some of the services between Jyväskylä and Seinäjoki will be run from 3 September using railcars. At the same time the number of railcar services between Savonlinna and Parikkala will be increased to eleven, which is double the current number.
From the beginning of September one of the two daily overnight train services between Helsinki and Rovaniemi will consist entirely of new double-decker sleeper cars.
The new rolling stock will improve travel comfort and the level of in-train service. The new cars are air-conditioned and quiet and are equipped with a variety of services for different customer groups such as families and the disabled.
The InterCity trains due for refurbishment in the summer will also be in service in the autumn.
Changes in Russian traffic
Train services on the Russian line will become 25-40 minutes faster. The biggest increase will apply to the Sibelius train from Helsinki to St Petersburg, the travel time of which will be 5 hours 9 minutes from next autumn (currently 5 hours 48 minutes). From the autumn the Sibelius and Repin trains to St Petersburg will start to use the Finland station in St Peterburg instead of the Laatokka station today. This change, along with the direct Kerava-Lahti line, will speed up St Petersburg train travel times.
The rolling stock used in the Sibelius train will be renewed on 15 June. The blue coaches currently in use will be replaced by single-decker InterCity trains.
Some train services and stops discontinued
Overnight rail services from Helsinki via Kouvola and Kajaani to Oulu and from Turku to Joensuu will be discontinued from 2 September. These services are currently contracted by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, an activity that will be terminated. Passenger volumes in overnight trains have been minor. The faster daytime services will replace the overnight services.
The direct night-time train service to Kemijärvi will end because the new rolling stock cannot be used on this non-electrified line. The connecting train service from Rovaniemi to Kemijärvi will run until the end of 2006.
From the autumn the Pendolino trains will no longer stop at Hämeenlinna. There will be an hourly InterCity train from Hämeenlinna to Helsinki supplemented by regional trains at peak periods.
Trains will no longer stop at the towns of Taavetti, Jalasjärvi, Härmä, Kuivaniemi and Ii.
Train ticket prices will remain unchanged from 3 September with the exception of commuter trains between Lahti and Helsinki and regional traffic between Lahti and Riihimäki. Tickets for these trains will be priced using the zone pricing structure in force for commuter trains in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
Source VR 3.5
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/yhtyma/uuttae.html#030506
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.2) Gecko/20060308 Firefox/1.5.0.2
VR Ltd and Russian Railways subsidiary Transcontainer have signed a letter of intent to establish a joint venture by the end of June.
The new company will market container transport services to Russia, other CIS countries and, via the Trans-Siberian railway, to China, Korea and other countries in South-East Asia.
Setting up the joint venture will boost marketing of container services to Moscow that are being started up. The goal is to start a weekly service between Helsinki and Moscow this year.
Next year it is also planned to start fast container services between Finland and China. The journey to China would take 14-16 days, which is about half the time it takes by sea. At present containers travel on the Trans-Siberian line to the port of Nahodka, from where they are taken by ship to China.
In 2005 rail services transported altogether 125 000 TEU in container traffic between Finland and Russia. Some 80 % of the containers travelled between Finland and the Far East. The greatest potential in container services lies in transport to Moscow, China and Korea. Transcontainer is a subsidiary of Russian railway company OAO RZD that is responsible for container services. The company was established on 4 March 2006 and operates with 47 terminals, 23,000 container wagons and 48,000 containers. Last year Transcontainer transported 275,000 TEU. TEU is a unit of measurement used in container transport that corresponds to one 20-foot container.
Source VR News 28th Mar
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/yhtyma/uuttae.html#280306
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/4.8 [en] (Win98; U)
In 2005 transito - or transit - traffic passing through Finland experienced major structural changes. Although export transito remained larger than imports, the development trend is clear; eastbound traffic will continue to predominate.
On the surface, the statistics for 2005 would seem to indicate that the tonnage of transito traffic passing through Finland had remained at the previous year’s level. A closer examination of the statistics however reveals major structural changes.
Export volumes through Finland to the West would have decreased without the pellet transports originating in Kostamus, Russia that pass through the Port of Kokkola. In 2005 they increased by almost 300% and accounted for over one-third of all of Finland’s export transito. Measured in tonnes the pellet shipments surpassed the million tonne mark.
The statistics for last year’s transito shipments simply confirmed a trend that had already been clearly discernible; with increasing frequency, bulk goods from Russia are being channelled to Russia’s own harbours as well as the ports of the Baltic counties. In import transito container traffic as well as car imports Finland has been able to hold its own competitively.
This also demonstrates that even though the tonnage of import transito in 2005 remained close to the previous year’s level, the value of the goods being transported rose appreciably.
Source VR Cargo News
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/cargo/tp_12006_2.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1
Thanks to a new track gauge switching system that will be taken into use this year, the railway traffic taking place between Finland and Sweden will be come faster and easier.
In the near future, a train hauling, for example metal industry products from Finland to Sweden, will be able - unlike the present situation - to cross the border without stopping. The countries’ track gauges are different, but thanks to a track gauge switching system installed at the border, a train pulling special wagons will be able to cross the border at a speed of approximately 10-15 kilometres per hour and continue in the other country after the locomotive has been switched.
The German DB/Rafil track gauge switching system is being installed and will be tested in the spring of 2006. After device testing, bogie installations and staff training, traffic can begin during March; the pioneers will be Rautaruukki with 3 wagons and Outokumpu with 4 wagons.
Source VR Cargo News
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/cargo/tp_12006_3.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1
VR Cargo and Transkonteiner have initialised a new container train connection between Finland and Moscow. Already in November it may be possible to travel to Beijing or Tianjing by train.
Named Revontuli, the container train made a trial run to Moscow in December 2005. VR Cargo’s Marketing Manager Matti Andersson explains that the transport went according to plan. The terminals in Moscow are now ready, so the unloading, handling and distribution of shipments will not produce problems. In a technical sense, the preparedness for the initialisation of weekly traffic already exists. Now all that is needed are sales efforts that would result in something that could be soon transported.
- We have conducted many negotiations and left many offers. We are also organising a presentation event for container companies to publicise the Revontuli train.
Container shipments between Finland and China are for the time being in the formative stages; VR Cargo has met with the representatives of the Russian and Chinese railways. Preliminary discussions with the Chinese were held last fall; Matti Andersson indicates that they were fairly interested in the matter.
Source VR Cargo News
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/cargo/tp_12006_5.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1
VR Group's net profit in 2005 totalled EUR 46.0 million, compared with EUR 51.7 million the year before. The operating profit last year was EUR 61.1 (62.8) million. Net turnover amounted to EUR 1,196.6 (1,178.9) million. The Group's financial position and liquidity remained good.
The reason for the decline in the net profit was the labour dispute in the forest industry in late spring and early summer in 2005. The long disruption in the labour market reduced VR’s net turnover by an estimated EUR 20 million and operating profit by EUR 17 million.
Domestic freight services declined, carryings from Russia increased
VR’s domestic carryings declined 10.6% in 2005 from the previous year, whereas traffic between Finland and Russia rose 6.7%. Domestic carryings totalled 23.5 million tonnes. Carryings in the forest industry declined 12.0% from the previous year. The forest industry is by far the largest product segment for VR Cargo, accounting for more than 60% of freight traffic. Domestic metal industry carryings were down 7.8% and chemical industry carryings 4.4%. VR Cargo’s international traffic consists almost entirely of carryings to and from Russia, and these totalled 16.3 million tonnes in 2005. More than half of this total consisted of raw timber imports into Finland, over a quarter comprised chemical industry products, and the rest was made up almost entirely of metal industry products.
Traffic to and from Russia accounts for some 40% of all VR Cargo’s carryings, when transit traffic via Finland is included.
VR Cargo transported a total of 40.7 million tonnes of freight during 2005, a decline of 4.6% from the previous year. Freight services recorded a net turnover of EUR 333.4 (348.2) million.
Considerable growth in passenger services
A total of 63.5 million of passenger journeys were made by rail in 2005, an increase of 5.6% from 2004 and an all-time record for the railways. Long-distance services recorded a rise of 3.1% to 12.5 million journeys. Travel between Finland and Russia increased 6.2%, to a total of 267,300 journeys. Commuter journeys in the Greater Helsinki region increased 6.2% from the previous year, to a total of 51.0 million. Most of these, 40.9 million, were made in the area administered by the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo, Kauniainen). This was an increase of 7.0%.
The net turnover of passenger services totalled EUR 320.4 (304.4) million.
Increase in road services
Pohjolan Liikenne companies carried altogether 9.1 million tonnes of freight in 2005, an increase of 2.8% from the previous year. The number of bus and coach journeys totalled 11.9 million, up 17.5% due to the expansion of contract services in the Greater Helsinki area. The net turnover of road services amounted to EUR 209.1 (197.8) million.
Net turnover for track construction and maintenance increased
The net turnover for track construction and maintenance was EUR 241.5 (235.8) million. Most of this came from contracts awarded by the Finnish Rail Administration. VR-Track Ltd carried out about 45% of the work ordered by the Finnish Rail Administration.
The largest track improvement projects during the year were on the Tampere-Jyväskylä, Seinäjoki-Oulu, Kirkkonummi-Turku, Siilinjärvi-Viinijärvi and Pieksämäki-Kuopio track sections. Major superstructure work was carried out on altogether 286 kilometres of railway line.
The superstructure work, electrification and installation of signalling equipment continued on the direct Kerava-Lahti line.
Record expenditure on new rolling stock
The Group's capital expenditure were higher in 2005 than in any year since the company’s incorporation, totalling EUR 210.2 (180.0) million. This included EUR 172.0 (140.9) million for rolling stock for VR Ltd.
This expenditure was mainly payment for deliveries of rolling stock ordered previously such as the Pendolino and city trains, railcars, sleeping cars and car carriers.
Source VR News 22th Mar
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/yhtyma/uuttae.html#220306
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1
VR Ltd and the Russian railway company OAO RZD have signed a letter of intent for establishing a joint rolling stock company for high-speed rail services between Helsinki and St Petersburg.
The task of the rolling stock company is to purchase the high-speed trains and maintenance services required for the Helsinki- St Petersburg service. The company will be established by the end of June.
The joint company will arrange international competitive bidding for the rolling stock, aiming to make the decision about who will provide the trains this year.
Achieving faster journey times between Helsinki and St Petersburg requires track renovation on both sides of the border and all customs formalities to be handled on the moving train, in addition to the new rolling stock. These measures should reduce the travel time between Helsinki and St Petersburg to three hours.
In 2005, 267,000 journeys were made by rail between Finland and Russia, an increase of 6% from the previous year.
Source VR News 13th Mar
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/yhtyma/uuttae.html#130306
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1
The range of tickets available through VR’s online sales has grown. Rail tickets including a sleeping berth, 30-day tickets without connections, and next summer’s Lomapassi (Holiday Rail Pass) can now also be purchased on the Internet.
Online sales now serve more customers, since new banks have joined the service. Tickets purchased online can now be paid with the online banking services of Aktia Savings Bank, the Finnish Savings Banks, the Nooa Savings Bank and the Finnish Local Cooperative Banks. Previously payment has been possible with the online banking services of OKO, Nordea and Sampo banks, with Visa Electron cards from these banks, and with Visa, Mastercard and Eurocard.
Source VR News 17th Feb
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/yhtyma/uuttae.html#170206
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1
Talgo sells freight wagons business to the K Industrier to Sweden. This is a fact after an agreement with the Finnish company Talgo Oy that is closing down its production of freight wagons in Finland.
Talgo will in future fully concentrate on vehicles for passenger traffic. K Industrier in Malmö has specialized on freight wagons and will now take over all of Talgos products in the sector of freight transportation and transfer sales and production from Finland to Malmö. In that way K Industrier doubles its range of different kinds of special freight wagons.
- We will now get access to further approx. 15 completely developed, tested and reliable wagontypes, among other things covered wagons for transportation of cars. In all there are approx.1 400 of these wagontypes in traffic on the the european railways, Björn Widell Managing Director of K Industrier tells us. He has managed the company since it was founded from Kockums in Malmö four years ago.
Neither buyer nor seller wants to discuss the economic parts of the agreement.
VR Pieksämäki works and K Industrier are the only manufacturers of freight wagons in Scandinavia. K Industrier was founded in 2001 when the companys present management bought the business from Kockums in Malmö. The company develops and produces wagons for freight transports on railway, it has 65 employees an a turnover this year of approx 160 MSEK. Talgo Oy is a Finnish producer of rolling stock and is part of the Spanish Talgogroup. Talgo Oy has approx. 400 employees and a turnover this year of more than 50 M EUR.
Source K Industrier 24.11.2005
Source WWW
http://www.kindustrier.se/News/news%20room.htm
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1
The Finnish railway company VR has stipulated that train routes used for transporting dangerous substances remain confidential, reports the newspaper Keskisuomalainen. According to the VR’s safety director, Yrjö Poutiainen, the company's own security plan calls for classifying the information. The policy came into affect last June when a law on transporting dangerous substances was amended.
The new law, however, does not force the company to have secret routes. VR transports a substantial amount, about 5 million tonnes, of dangerous substances yearly. Finland produces less than half of that amount in normal waste.
Fuel comprises the majority of the dangerous substances, but explosives, gaseous substances, and corrosive agents are also transported. VR has not transported radioactive or infectious substances in recent years.
Most dangerous substances are transported in eastern and south-eastern Finland, while most explosives are moved between the towns of Hanko and Kokkola.
Source YLE 8.3
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/id29547.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1
The State Railways VR will not be increasing capacity during the road transport strike which starts on Sunday. The railways say that it does not have the rolling stock to add extra trains to its schedule. However, VR may add extra cars to some long-distance trains and some rush-hour commuter trains in the greater Helsinki area.
In Helsinki and nearby regions, taxi operators have made preparations for increasing services by putting more cabs and drivers on the roads as of Monday morning. The strike will also affect transport to and from Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport. Only buses operated by Finnair will be operating airport bus services. Finnair has reminded travellers that normal air ticket conditions are in force despite the strike.
Strike hits mainly local services
The main bus services company in Helsinki will not be affected by the strike, which means that around 75% of routes will run according to normal schedules. Only about 40% of Helsinki regional services will be operating, while in Espoo and Vantaa over 90% of buses will be off the roads because of the strike.
In Tampere, the city’s transport department will not be affected by the labour action and will continue operating 90% of routes within the city limits.
In Turku, 75% of bus services will be on strike, although there are plans for some routes to be driven by owners and supervisory personnel. In Oulu around 90% of routes will be affected. Supervisory personnel will, however, drive buses on some routes during rush-hours.
In Jyvaskylä and Kuopio, all public transport will be shut down, with the exception of some rush-hour services operated by supervisory personnel. In Lahti, 95% of scheduled buses will be out of service.
Source Yle News 4.3
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id29276.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/4.8 [en] (Win98; U)
Protesters gathered in Helsinki on Wednesday to demonstrate against closure of rail services between Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi. Demonstrators from Lapland were also joined by dozens of people from the Helsinki area. Community groups handed over a petition signed by around 21,000 people to Minister of Transport Susanna Huovinen calling for train services to be maintained between the two towns in southern Lapland.
Passenger services eastwards from Rovaniemi are threatened with closure at the end of this year. Following track electrification as far as Rovaniemi, new rolling stock will be unable to continue to Kemijärvi, which is currently served by one daily train from Helsinki.
Estimates put the cost of electrifying the 80-kilometre stretch of track to Kemijärvi at about 17 million euros. Finnish State Railways VR also intends to completely discontinue rail services beyond Kemijärvi to Salla.
Politicians from across the political spectrum joined in Wednesday's demonstration. They said VR had renegaded on its public service duties. Parliamentarian Suvi Linden from the National Coalition Party said cash to save the line must be found in next autumn's budget deliberations.
Left Alliance MP Martti Korhonen said it was incredible that a financially poorer Finland had found the money to build the line while today's affluent Finland did not have the funds for its upkeep.
Source YLE 22.2
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id28614.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1
Finnish and Russian state-owned railways plan a joint venture to open a high-speed train link between the two countries by 2008, officials said Wednesday.
The companies are currently negotiating the details and a decision is expected within several months, said Martti Mäkinen, spokesman for Finnish rail VR.
The link between the Finnish capital, Helsinki, and St. Petersburg would cut the current 5 1/2-hour journey by at least two hours, Mäkinen said.
In Moscow, the deputy head of Russian state railways, Mikhail Akulov, said the company would be formed by April 1. He told ITAR-Tass news agency that Italian-made Pendolino trains would be used in the initial stages of the venture.
Annually, some 270,000 passengers travel by VR to Russia, mostly to St. Petersburg.
Finland, which was part of the czarist empire for a century, has the same railroad gauge as Russia - slightly wider than most of Europe.
Source Chron.com 16.2
Source WWW
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/3660640.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)
VR leases 20 Intercity coaches for 25 years. Coaches will be manufactured by Talgo at Otanmäki. The cost of coaches are 43 million euros. Intercity coaches will be in use at year end of 2007.
Building and leasing of coaches was possible when Ministry of Traffic and Communications made an agreement with VR to buy Intercity departures if they become unprofitable. VR continues contract negotiations with builder and financer.
Now confirmed order of 20 Intercity coaches is very important for Talgo factory at Otanmäki. Now Otanmäki makes sleeping carriages for VR, but this will end at fall.
VR deputy managing director Veikko Vaikkinen says that leasing agreement means that VR pays for coaches in 25 years more that their value 43 million euros. Vaikkinen says that this is still more economical than buying coaches.
Source YLE News 25.1
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/talous/id26385.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 193.234.247.50 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; fi-FI; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050919 Firefox/1.0.7
The continued cold snap coupled with a sudden snowstorm to snarl transport in southern Finland on Friday. The State Railways, VR, cancelled a number of trains due to cold weather and snow.
Most of the cancellations were on local trains between Helsinki and Riihimäki and other suburban routes. There were also delays of 10-20 minutes in local service and up to an hour in long-distance service.
VR blamed problems with rail switches and other equipment. The railway company warns that more delays are likely in the coming days, with bitter cold predicted through the weekend in most areas.
The Meteorological Service forecasts milder weather moving in from the west on Monday.
Source YLE News 20.1
Source WWW
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id26067.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/4.8 [en] (Win98; U)
VR cancels train because of cold weather. On city rail between Helsinki and Kerava only half of trains will be run betweeen 15 and 17 hours. Normally there is six K trains and six I trains in hour. Also following commuter trains are cancelled:
- Commuter train 225, departure at 16.00 for Riihimki.
- Commuter train 229, departure at 16:30 for Riihimki.
- Commuter train departure at 16:42 for Hyvinkää.
Express train departure 23 at 16.56 for Kouvola will be cancelled. Passengers can use Intercity 9 for Joensuu at 17.34 instead.
Express train 16.20 for Tampere will depart at 16.30 instead and make additional calls at Kerava, Jrvenp, Jokela and Hyvinkää.
Cold weatheer has caused problems for train whole Friday. Late running has been between ten and 30 minutes.
In the morning ten commuter train departures and one long distance train were cancelled.
Source VR news 20.1
Source WWW http://www.vr.fi/yhtyma/uutis.html
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki Sent from host 193.234.247.50
The first two of VR's new double decker sleeping cars will enter service between Helsinki and Rovaniemi at the beginning of February. Altogether 20 sleeping cars have been ordered from Talgo.
All the new sleeping cars will be introduced during 2006. The cars are being built at the Otanmäki Works and the order is worth EUR 58 million.
The new sleeping cars will raise the level of service in overnight trains considerably. The coaches have showers and each cabin has an electric socket, an alarm clock, and improved GSM reception.
The requirements of many different customer groups have been taken into account in the coaches. Customer representatives have participated in the development of the coach during the design and production stages.
Modern fittings in the coaches
The new car has a total of 19 cabins. All the cabins have two beds. There are eight cabins on the upper deck and 11 on the lower and intermediate decks.
Each cabin on the upper deck has its own toilet and shower. The lower deck has a shared toilet and shower, with a wash basin in each cabin. The showers have under-floor heating. The cabins are air-conditioned, with individual controls to set the temperature in each cabin.
The cabins can be booked for one or two persons. Some of the cabins on the lower level can be doubled up with an interlinking door to accommodate four people. For young children each car has a safety net that forms a side to the bed.
GSM reception in the new sleeping car has been improved with a booster. Each cabin has an electric socket for charging mobile phones and laptop computers as well as a multifunction panel where the passenger can set the alarm and listen to the radio with an earphone.
One of the cabins on the lower deck is designed for disabled passengers and there is a toilet for the disabled on that deck as well. The car has facilities for people with allergies and for people travelling with pets. Smoking is not allowed in the new cars, which are fitted with fire alarms.
The external appearance of the new cars is the same as the InterCity coaches made previously by Talgo. The aluminium coaches have a maximum speed of 160 kilometres an hour and can only be operated on electrified track sections.
New style overnight train in the autumn
The first of the new sleeping cars will enter service on the P61 and P68 trains on 1 February. The P61 express train leaves Helsinki in the evening at 19.20 and arrives in Rovaniemi at 7.51 in the morning. The P68 express train leaves Rovaniemi at 21.10 and arrives in Helsinki at 8.40. During the spring and summer these trains will still have some of the older sleeping cars as well as the new ones.
Starting in the autumn customers travelling between Helsinki and Rovaniemi can choose between the new style and the conventional overnight train. Two of the new trains and two of the older trains will then provide overnight services daily on this route.
In the new overnight trains, all the sleeping cars will be double decker. The trains will also have the new double decker car carriers, single decker day coaches and a restaurant car. The overnight service from Turku to the North will continue to operate with the older sleeper cars.
Separate prices for the new sleeping cars
The new sleeping cars will have different prices from the older sleepng cars. The ticket for one person travelling from Helsinki to Rovaniemi in a two berth cabin on the lower deck will cost EUR 93.00, which is EUR 4.00 more than in the present overnight train. On the upper deck the ticket costs EUR 9.00 more than in the older car.
At the most popular periods all overnight trains have separate peak season prices. In the new sleeping cars the difference between peak season prices and those at other times of the year will be more marked than with the present sleeping cars.
VR has daily overnight rail services to Rovaniemi, with regular trainbus connections from there to destinations in Lapland. During peak periods the regular services are supplemented with extra services.
In 2005 a total of 471 000 journeys by sleeping car were made. This is a decline of 0.4 per cent from the previous year. A total of 37 800 cars were carried in 2005, which is 11.9 per cent more than in the previous year.
130 years of overnight train services in Finland
Sleeping car services became common on railways around the world during the 1870s. In Finland the first sleeping cars entered service between Helsinki and St Petersburg in 1876.
The first sleeping cars in service in Finland were manufactured in Austro-Hungary. The wooden coaches had three four berth compartments. First and second class compartments were located in the same coach.
VR started to manufacture sleeping cars towards the end of the 1890s and the first cars entered service in 1898. Manufacturing of steel sleeping cars started at VR's engineering works at Pasila towards the end of the 1960s. The first of these entered service in the first half of the 1970s.
In addition to its new sleeping cars, VR has 106 conventional sleeping cars that were built in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of these will remain in service. The oldest 33 cars will be taken out of service in 2006-2008.
Source VR news 12th Jan 2006
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/yhtyma/uuttae.html#120106
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
Sent from host 84.239.128.3 with browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; fi; rv:1.8) Gecko/20051111 Firefox/1.5
The number of rail journeys increased last year both in long-distance services and in commuter services in the Greater Helsinki area. A record total of 63.5 million journeys were made by rail. The number of passenger journeys in long-distance rail traffic rose by 3.1%, while the number of journeys on commuter services increased 6.2%.
Altogether 12.5 million journeys were made in long-distance traffic, compared with 12.1 million in the previous year. The number of rail journeys between Finland and Russia totalled 267,000, an increase of 6.2% from 2004.
Rail journeys in the area administered by the Helsinki metropolitan area council increased by 7.0%, to a total of 40.9 million. Outside this area, the number of commuter rail journeys in the Greater Helsinki area increased by 3.2% to 10.1 million.
Altogether 40.7 million tonnes of freight were carried by rail during 2005, compared to 42.7 million tonnes in the previous year. Total carryings declined 4.6%.
Domestic carryings shrank by 10.6%. This was mainly due to the la-bour dispute in the forest industry, which started in the spring and continued well into the summer. A total of 23.5 million tonnes were carried.
Freight traffic between Finland and Russia increased 6.9%, rising to 12.9 million tonnes. The volume of transit freight traffic via Finland to other countries was 3.4 million tonnes, an increase of 5.7% from the previous year.
VR-Track Ltd carried out track construction and improvement on a total of 300 kilometres of track. This is some 10% less than in the previous year.
VR-Track's largest worksites were the superstructure work and electrification on the direct line between Kerava and Lahti and superstructure work between Orivesi and Jämsänkoski. Other work included replacing sleepers and track laying on the Ostrabothnia line and on the Viinijärvi-Siilinjärvi, Pieksämäki-Kuopio and Imatra-Parikkala track sections. The installation of automatic train protection systems also continued in Northern and Eastern Finland.
In Sweden VR-Track and Balfour Beatty Rail AB have formed an al-liance that is carrying out a contract for superstructure work on a total of 110 kilometres of track in the Botniabana project. Last year work was carried out on 35 kilometres of track.
Source VR news 10th Jan 2006
Source WWW
http://www.vr.fi/yhtyma/uuttae.html#100106
Reported by Kimmo Kotimäki
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Note that I don't work for VR. Created Tue, Dec 9 1997 Kimmo Kotimäki.