You are here: Home » Archives for Finland
Finland - Articles and news items
Issue 3 2011 / 31 May 2011 /
The high-speed Allegro rail service between Helsinki in Finland and St. Petersburg in Russia began operating on 12 December 2010. The service cuts the journey time between the two cities by more than two hours to three and a half hours. The Allegros have a top speed of 220km/h and faster journey was achieved by introducing rolling stock with the latest technology, speeding up border formalities and improving the track. The Allegros are electric train sets, so there is no need to change engines now.
The train takes passengers from city centre to city centre. After leaving Helsinki, the Allegro trains stop in Finland in Pasila, Tikkurila, Lahti, Kouvola and Vainikkala and in Russia at Vyborg before arriving in St. Petersburg, just as the old trains to Russia have done. (more…)
Rail industry news / 14 September 2010 /
With an investment volume of more than EUR 45 million, DB Schenker Logistics is building its new hub and corporate office for Finland in Vantaa, near the airport, in the northern suburbs of Helsinki. In addition, logistics facilities are being built for the capital of Finland in neighboring Kiila. The location to date, Metsälä, does not offer any room for further expansion and is to be converted into a residential area by the local government. (more…)
Issue 3 2010 / 31 May 2010 /
In a large-scale project of the Finnish Transport Agency, a 76.5km second track will be built between Kokkola and Ylivieska. To fund the project, a Public Private Partnership will be used for the first time in the Finnish railway network. It is also desirable to have foreign competitors for the challenging project. The total construction cost is €263 million.
The Finnish Transport Agency is carrying out a unique railway project in Finland. Between 2011 and 2014, a second track will be built between the cities of Kokkola and Ylivieska. Its total length will be 76.5 kilometres. At the same time, the existing track will be renewed. The project is part of the upgrading of the Seinäjoki–Oulu line section. CC Infra Oy acts as the technical expert on the project. (more…)
Rail industry news / 12 May 2010 /
The Finnish Transport Agency for Rail, Maritime and Road Administration, has announced that the pilot project for evaluating an advanced IP-based surveillance system for 11 train stations, was awarded to IndigoVision’s Authorised Finnish Partner, Taitotekniikka (Kauppahuone Taito Oy). (more…)
Issue 3 2009, Past issues / 15 May 2009 /
During spring 2008, a study of a slab track system for the new Ring Rail Line was conducted in Vantaa, Finland interlinked with the railway planning phase. The study concentrated on the seven kilometre long double tunnel system which would go under the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport area. The main task was to investigate the suitability of a slab track system as an alternative for a traditional ballasted track from the given starting points and in Finnish conditions. It was expected through international experience that slab track would present advantages concerning future maintenance, tunnel safety and also savings in tunnel excavations. The study was made for Finnish Railway Administration by Pöyry Infra Ltd and VR-Track Ltd Railway Consulting department.
(more…)
Issue 3 2009, Past issues / 15 May 2009 /
A high-speed rail service between Helsinki and St. Petersburg will start up next year when Allegro, a Finnish-Russian train, comes into service in the summer of 2010. VR’s goal is to make the Allegro the best link between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. The number of passengers is expected to triple within five years.
This high-speed rail link is intended to shorten the journey time between Helsinki and St. Petersburg at first to three and a half hours and later to three hours, down from the current five and a half hours. All border-crossing formalities are being relocated onto the moving trains.
Passenger numbers on the Helsinki- St. Petersburg line are expected to triple within five years of the introduction of the high-speed service.
(more…)
Issue 3 2008, Past issues / 28 May 2008 /
A new harbour is presently being built in Finland’s capital and will be ready by the end of 2008. The harbour is located in Vuosaari, approximately 15km from the centre of Helsinki (see Figure 1). The Vuosaari Harbour project includes the construction of a cargo harbour as well as traffic channels – a new fairway, harbour road and harbour railway line. The harbour railway line will be 19km long and have two tunnels. With a length of 13.5km, the Savio tunnel will be the longest railway tunnel in Finland and the second longest in the Nordic countries.
(more…)
Issue 3 2008, Past issues / 28 May 2008 /
In Finland, railway undertaker VR and Finnish Rail Administration (RHK) became concerned in 2005 about the high number of level crossing accidents. VR sent a letter to the Accident Investigation Board of Finland (AIBF) and asked for it to take action to prevent level crossing accidents. They had noticed that the level of railway safety in Finland was high in international comparison, but safety on level crossings was considered much worse. At the same time, the amount of other rail accidents had decreased but the amount of level crossing accidents was shown to have increased.
At that time, AIBF didn’t investigate level crossing accidents, except those accidents in which a train had derailed or a passenger or a train crew member was deceased or injured seriously. Level crossing accidents were counted as road accidents. Fatal road accidents were investigated by the Traffic Accident Investigation Teams of the Traffic Safety Commission of Finnish Motor Insurers’ Centre (VALT). Minor accidents were investigated only by the operator and/or the police.
(more…)
Issue 3 2007, Past issues / 6 June 2007 /
The planning of Finland’s first airport line is well under way and construction is scheduled to begin in 2008 on the outskirts of Helsinki. A working group has recommended that the line will be constructed with normal state budget funds. The project is expected to cost approximately €420 million (at the May 2006 cost level).
The 18km line in Vantaa will offer a rail link to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport, plus making it possible to build new residential areas and workplaces along good traffic connections.
The airport line, which in the master plan stage was called the Marja Line, has been renamed the Ring Rail Line, since it will run between the main line to the north and the Martinlaakso commuter line via the airport. The Ring Rail Line will form an urban rail loop that will make it possible to use commuter trains more efficiently. Plans call for services to operate at 10-minute intervals in both directions on the new line. The fastest journey time from the centre of Helsinki to the airport will be approximately half an hour. (more…)
Issue 3 2006, Past issues / 31 May 2006 /
The major Finnish railway direct line project from Kerava to Lahti will be completed on 3 September 2006.The direct line is the most important railway project in Finland for over two decades and new technical solutions have been introduced with the guidance of the Finnish Rail Administration (RHK),who is responsible for the project.
The Kerava to Lahti direct line is part of the ‘Nordic Triangle’ which is one of the 14 primary TEN projects. The Nordic Triangle is a transport system of different modes which links the capital cities of the Nordic countries to each other and provides connections between the EU and Russia. The direct line will increase rail capacity to eastern Finland and Russia and reduce the traveling time from Helsinki to Lahti from 82 minutes to 44 minutes. The traveling distance is reduced by 26km. (more…)
Issue 3 2006, Past issues / 31 May 2006 /
A steady succession of small rolling stock orders is keeping interest alive in the Nordic market.A decade ago, the Nordic countries were seen as a beacon of hope by Europe’s rolling stock manufacturers,with some large replacement orders coming up.
But those orders are now behind us, with the Italian manufacturer Ansaldo-Breda winning many of them at competitive prices. Finland, Norway and Denmark (this article excludes Sweden) all boast modern fleets and the orders coming up are tending to be in niche areas of the market. (more…)
Issue 1 2006, Past issues / 14 February 2006 /
The Finnish rail network measures 5,800km consisting of approximately 50% electrified lines and over 90% single-track lines. Both passenger and freight trains, featuring different operating speeds, run on the same network. Roughly 40% of the network is over 30 years old, and due to insufficient financing, the development needs have failed to be reached.
(more…)
Login to access exclusive content