Rail freight Finland-Russia resumes, UK sanctions don’t apply after all
UpdateThree days after suspending traffic between Finland and Russia, VR Transpoint will resume services effective Wednesday, 30 March. The decision to restart rail freight operations to and from Russia follows on consultation with the UK...Read more
Finland halts passenger and freight trains to Russia
Finnish operator VR Group has suspended all passenger and freight trains to Russia. On Sunday, the last Allegro train from St Petersburg to Helsinki left the station. Read more
Finnish VR Group takes over Arriva Sweden
VR Group from Finland is acquiring Swedish bus and railway company Arriva Sweden, previously owned by Deutsche Bahn. With the takeover of Sweden’s third largest train operator, VR Group wants to grow and strengthen its...Read more
Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel can open up rail in Finland and Estonia: ‘we love competition’
InterviewThere is an ambitious plan to build a tunnel from Helsinki to Tallinn. Peter Vesterbacka, COB and founder of the company behind the project and founding partner Kustaa Valtonen talk about the progress of the...Read more
Finland enters new PSO contract with VR
VR Group and the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications have reached an agreement on purchased transport services until 2030 under public service obligation (PSO). Finland’s national operator also commits itself to major fleet acquisitions,...Read more
Will the Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel be built privately?
AnalysisAn undersea tunnel between Finland and Estonia, which brings together the two capitals as a twin city. The ‘Talsinki’ tunnel is a vision of entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka, but the countries’ governments are wary to have...Read more
‘Rail Baltica is at least three times more expensive for Estonia than HS2 for the UK’
InterviewRail Baltica is without a doubt one of the largest railway projects in Europe, but there exist doubts about whether the benefits outweigh the high costs in the Baltic states. RailTech talked to Priit Humal...Read more
Autonomous freight train to be tested in Finland
A fully autonomous freight train will be tested on Finnish tracks by the end of this year. Led by Finnish technology company Proxion, the autonomous freight train will be electric and aims to revolutionise short-distance...Read more
FRMCS tests in Finland to start in 2022
In the Finnish Digirail project, the radio-based communication system FRMCS will be tested. A unique European trial will begin in Finland, where the new system can be adopted earlier than in most countries, because their...Read more
Finland introduces new interlocking
A new interlocking device is in use in Kerava in the south of Finland from 21 June 2021. It is one of the largest deployments of the railway safety equipment system in Finland, and is...Read more
Finland introduces new train driver assistance
Starting this spring, Finnish operator VR introduces a Driver Assistance System (DAS) that assists the locomotive drivers in passenger and freight trains. Using machine learning, the DAS helps to optimise train driving, increase energy efficiency,...Read more
VR FleetCare deploys TrainScanner to detect exterior train malfunctions
Rolling stock maintenance company VR FleetCare will deploy Train Scanner next month, a device designed to automatically inspect the external condition of trains. The device will be used for the maintenance of Helsinki Region Transport’s...Read more
Thales to install ETCS Level 2 in Finland
Thales has been selected to provide and install ETCS Level 2 signalling on the Kotka-Kouvola-Hamina line. It will be the first ETCS Level 2 track in Finland, which will prepare for the launch a nation-wide...Read more