All Finland articles – Page 3
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Metro Report InternationalTampere orders more trams
FINLAND: Škoda Group has been awarded a contract to supply a further five ForCity Smart Artic X34 trams to Tampere. The €34m firm order announced on May 25 has been placed using an option on the original contract signed in 2017. This covered the supply of ...
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NewsFinland’s VR begins terminating Russian rail freight contracts
EUROPE: Finland’s national train operator VR Group has begun the process of terminating its Russian cross-border freight contracts, with traffic expected to cease completely by the end of the year at the latest, and it is also looking to sell or liquidate its Russian freight joint ...
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News‘Controlled’ end to Finland – Russia rail freight traffic
FINLAND: National operator VR Group is to discontinue rail freight traffic with Russia ‘in a controlled manner’, the railway’s board decided on April 6. VR said it aimed to run down traffic as quickly as possible, although it expected that the process would take several months. ...
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NewsVR Group President & CEO removed
FINLAND: The board of state rail operator VR Group dismissed Lauri Sipponen as President & Chief Executive on April 4, just seven months into the job. Director of Passenger Operations Topi Simola has taken temporary charge while VR Group looks for a new CEO. No reason ...
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NewsFinland’s VR buys Arriva’s Swedish rail and bus business
SWEDEN: Finland’s national railway VR Group is to acquire Deutsche Bahn’s Swedish train and bus operating business Arriva Sverige, with the aim of expanding in the urban transport sector and becoming a significant operator in the larger Swedish market. Arriva Sverige is Sweden’s third largest train ...
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NewsFinnish diesel locomotive delivered
FINLAND: The first of 60 Class Dr19 diesel locomotives ordered by national railway VR for shunting, freight and local passenger operations has arrived in Tampere for testing.
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NewsTendering ahead as Finnish operating contract signed
FINLAND: The Ministry of Transport & Communications and national operator VR have signed a directly-awarded public service obligation contract for the operation of loss-making passenger services over the next nine years, with provision for the procurement of new rolling stock and greater regional involvement in funding ...
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NewsFinland – Sweden rail link to be electrified
FINLAND: Funding has been agreed for the electrification of the 24 km line from the junction at Laurila near Kemi to Tornio and across the border to Haparanda in Sweden.
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In depthFinland: a positive shock in the far north
As the Finnish rail market opens further to competition, national railway VR Group remains committed to growing its passenger and freight business despite the impact of the pandemic as its Senior Vice-President for Strategy & Corporate Development Ilkka Heiskanen explains to Nick Kingsley.
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NewsHelsinki – Turku high speed planning gets underway
tn_fi-helsinki-station-exterior_01.jpg FINLAND: Responsibility for the development of plans for a high speed line between Helsinki and Turku has been transferred from the national transport infrastructure agency Väylävirasto to the dedicated project body which was established to oversee the project through to completion. Turun Tunnin Juna Oy, ...
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Metro Report InternationalCrown Bridges tramway construction approved
FINLAND: Construction of the Crown Bridges tramway in Helsinki is expected to get underway shortly, after the city council formally approved a revised budget setting the estimated cost at €326m. The 10 km light rail line will connect Laajasalo in the southeast to the city centre ...
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Metro Report InternationalTampere opens its tramway as an investment in cleaner everyday life
FINLAND: Full commercial services on the first phase of the Tampereen Ratikka light rail line in Tampere began running on August 9, following celebratory events the previous day. The start of revenue operation follows a period of test running which saw pre-booked passengers able to travel ...
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NewsFinland Bridge links Vladivostok and Helsinki
INTERNATIONAL: RZD Logistics, FESCO Transportation and Nurminen Logistics Services have launched a regular container service between Vladivostok and Vuosaari in Helsinki via the trans-Siberian route. The service has been branded Finland Bridge, and is expected to operate three or four times per month. ...
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NewsWagons delivered for wood chip import service
EUROPE: The Finnlog subsidiary of Finland’s VR Group has taken delivery of 35 wagons manufactured by ZMK which will be used for transporting wood chips from Metsä Group’s Svir sawmill in Russia to its pulp mill at Joutseno in Finland. Cross-border freight ...
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NewsFinnish ETCS Level 2 test route contract awarded
FINLAND: Transport infrastructure agency Väylävirasto has awarded Thales a contract to design, supply, install and test ETCS Level 2 signalling on the Kouvola – Kotka/Hamina line, with commercial use of the new signalling expected to begin in early 2023. The branch which serves an important port ...
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News‘Monster’ freight train in regular service
FINLAND: VR Transpoint has begun regular operation of 7 000 tonne trains carrying Russian transit freight to the port of Hamina. The 1 km long trains with 80 wagons and the capacity of 92 lorries have been branded Mörkö, meaning a giant monster or ogre from ...
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Metro Report InternationalFirst tram for Raide-Jokeri line delivered
FINLAND: The first Smart Artic X54 tram for the future Raide-Jokeri orbital light rail line linking Helsinki and Espoo was delivered by Škoda Transtech on April 9. The company is supplying 29 ForCity Smart Artic XL vehicles for the line under a €95·2m contract which Helsinki ...
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NewsVR FleetCare selects software for growth in a competitive market
FINLAND: The national railway group’s rolling stock maintenance company VR FleetCare is to standardise on the Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise software platform, which will be implemented by Infor’s local partner Midport Scandinavia. It will be rolled out to 1 000 users, replacing a legacy system with ...
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Metro Report InternationalHelsinki orders Crown Bridges light rail vehicles
FINLAND: Helsinki transport operator HKL has exercised an option for Škoda Transtech to supply 23 light rail vehicles for use on the future 10 km line across the Crown Bridges, three major bridges which will link the Laajasalo district of eastern Helsinki with Korkeasaari island, the ...
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Metro Report InternationalHelsinki’s Variotrams sold to a new home
FINLAND: Helsinki city transport operator HKL has signed a contract to sell 40 withdrawn Variotram trams which have been in storage since 2018. The first 20 trams were delivered by Adtranz and a further 20 by Bombardier Transportation in 1998-2003, but all suffered from problems with ...