Railways Today

In Finland there is only one railway company, VR. There is train every hour from Helsinki to Turku, Tampere and Kouvola. On other lines there is mostly train every two hours. S220 Pendolinos run from Helsinki to Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Kajaani and Joensuu. Normal long distance train is Intercity, there are some blue express trains left. There is intensive commuter train traffic on lines between Helsinki and Kirkkonummi and Helsinki and Riihimäki. Outside Helsinki area there is very few local trains.

Over last 30 years, local traffic on railways has declined and long distance traffic has become more important. Market share of railway traffic has declined, although number of passengers and passengers kilometres have rised.

In year 1980 there were 39,1 million trips and 3 215 million passenger kilometres. In year 1999 there were 53 209 million trips and 3 415 million passenger kilometres, with a rise of 1.1%. On year 2002 commuter traffic around Helsinki rose strongly and this affected also total statistics. On railway there were 57,7 million trips, which resulted in 3 305 million passenger kilometres. On year 2003 commuer traffic around Helsinki continued to rose. On railways 60,0 million trips were made, which resulted in 3 338 million passenger kilometres.

In year 1996 market share of railway traffic was 5.2% from total passenger traffic. Buses had 12.6%, aeroplanes had 1.2% and privat cars 79.4%.

The main railway network in Finland measured 5850 km in 31th December 2002. About 91.3% of the network consists of single-track lines. About 41 % of the railway network, i.e. 2400 km, is electrified. Electric trains handles some 77 % of the total railway traffic.

Speeds on rail network June 1st 2003. Note that maximum speed depends on whether line has passenger traffic or only goods traffic.

See also

Finnish Rail Administration: Rail Network
Map of rail types and max. axle loads on rail network (in Finnish), doesn't work anymore
Tielaitos, henkilöliikenteen suorite (in Finnish)

7800 visits 14th Dec 2002 - 6th Mar 2007. Note that I don't work for VR. Feedback welcomed at

. Created Mon, Oct 6 1997 Kimmo Kotimäki. Updated Tue, Aug 7 2007 Kimmo Kotimäki.