All Finland articles – Page 5
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NewsOperail seeks to enter Finland’s rail freight market
FINLAND: Estonian freight operator Operail has established Operail Finland Oy with the aim of entering the country’s rail market. It plans to invest €50m to develop the business and acquire rolling stock, as part of its strategy of diversifying its activities with new services, products and markets. ...
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NewsData-driven bogie maintenance project launched
FINLAND: A project to optimise bogie maintenance through the use of data-driven condition monitoring has been launched by the national railway’s rolling stock maintenance subsidiary VR FleetCare and automation and information systems supplier EKE-Electronics. Sensors and data transmission systems will be installed on VR Group’s locomotives and ...
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In depthTampere prepares for its first tramway
Tampere is developing its first ever tram network, with some innovative methods being used to keep the public informed of construction progress.
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NewsFinnish passenger tendering plan put on hold
FINLAND: Recently-appointed Minister of Transport & Communications Sanna Marin has suspended plans to call tenders for the operation of regional passenger services in southern Finland. On June 27 the ministry said that the preparatory process had shown that it would not be possible to proceed as planned. A fair and ...
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NewsVR orders double-deck dining cars
FINLAND: National railway VR Group has awarded Škoda Transtech a €24m contract to supply a further seven double-deck dining cars. They are to be to be produced at the Škoda Transportation subsidiary’s Kajaani factory for entry into service on the Helsinki – Turku and Helsinki – Tampere routes in 2021-22. ...
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NewsVR signs contract for ‘top of the line’ Stadler locomotives
FINLAND: VR Group has formally signed a contract for preferred bidder Stadler to supply 60 diesel-electric locomotives, the manufacturer announced on April 18. The contract is worth approximately €220m. There are options for up to 100 additional locomotives, as well as for Stadler to undertake maintenance. ...
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NewsVR selects Stadler to supply diesel locomotives
FINLAND: Stadler has been selected for a contract to supply 60 diesel shunting locomotives, national railway VR Group announced on March 11. The contract, which is expected to be finalised during April, would be worth approximately €200m, with deliveries scheduled for 2022-25. There would be an option for a further ...
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NewsArctic Ocean railway plan put on ice
EUROPE: The construction of a railway between Finnish Lapland and the Arctic Ocean is not currently commercially viable, a joint Finnish-Norwegian working group has concluded. Last year Finland’s Ministry of Transport & Communications published a report into route options which concluded that a 465 km line from Rovaniemi ...
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NewsProject company to support Finnish rail reforms
FINLAND: New line development, transparent access to infrastructure services and the provision of rolling stock for on-rail competition are to be facilitated by a state-owned special purpose company to be formed under plans unveiled by Minister of Transport & Communications Anne Berner on February 1. The Cabinet Committee on Economic ...
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NewsRevised cost estimate for Helsinki – Espoo light rail line
FINLAND: A revised cost estimate for the planned Raide-Jokeri orbital light rail line that would link Helsinki with Espoo has been announced. If this is approved by the two city governments, construction can begin in June. The 25 km route is now expected to cost €566m, including €110m for ...
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NewsVR Group restructures maintenance business
FINLAND: National railway VR Group transferred its rolling stock maintenance activities to a new VR Kunnossapito subsidiary with effect from January 1. The wholly-owned subsidiary has 990 staff headed by Kimmo Soini. VR Group CEO Rolf Jansson said the aim was to grow the maintenance subsidiary’s customer base ...
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NewsNurminen Logistics sells Russian wagon fleet
RUSSIA: Finnish freight company Nurminen Logistics plc announced on October 30 that it had sold its Russian wagon fleet of around 350 vehicles to TransLes. Part of the Rustranscom Group of freight companies, TransLes is one of the largest wagon operators in Russian forestry sector with a fleet of ...
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NewsTranstech renamed Škoda Transtech
FINLAND: Škoda Transportation Group's Finnish rolling stock manufacturing business Transtech has been renamed Škoda Transtech. Established in 1985 as a subsidiary of the Rautaruukki steel group and latesr acquiring the Valmet plant in Tampere, Transtech was owned by Patentes Talgo from June 1999 until March 2007 when it was sold ...
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News‘Unpretentious, authentic and pragmatic’ Tampere tram styling revealed
FINLAND: The appearance of the trams which Škoda Transportation is to supply for the future Tampere tramway has been finalised. In 2017 the city council announced a €104m firm order for Škoda Transportation subsidiary Transtech to supply 19 ForCity Smart Artic trams, with options for up to ...
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NewsNRC Group to buy VR Track
EUROPE: Finnish state-owned rail operator VR Group has agreed to sell its infrastructure maintenance subsidiary VR Track to the Norwegian NRC Group. The deal is expected to be finalised by January 2019, but is subject to approval by authorities in Finland and Sweden, where VR Track has a subsidiary, ...
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NewsOpen access operator's competition complaint upheld
FINLAND: Transport regulator Trafi has instructued state operator VR to make its charges for handling cross-border freight more transparent, following a complaint from the country’s only private operator. Fenniarail has been hauling trains between the Russia-Finland border and UPM’s paper mills since January. Its complaint related to VR’s pricing of ...
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NewsNurminen Logistics plans to sell wagon fleet
RUSSIA: Nurminen Logistics announced on October 2 that it was considering selling the wagons owned by its Russian subsidiary OOO Nurminen Logistics, saying this would free up capital to support a strategy of focusing on its rail operations and freight forwarding activities in the Russian rail market. The Russian wagon ...
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NewsSeven approved to bid for Helsinki commuter operating contract
FINLAND: Greater Helsinki area regional transport authority HSL has prequalified all seven companies which expressed interest in a contract to operate commuter train services around the capital for 10 years from June 2021. The contract would cover commuter services on the Ring Line serving the airport, on the main line ...
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NewsHelsinki orders more Transtech trams
FINLAND: Helsinki transport operator HKL has ordered a further 10 ForCity Smart Artic trams from Škoda Transportation subsidiary Transtech. The contract announced on June 14 is worth €30m. HKL ordered 40 trams from Transtech under a framework contract in 2010 that includes options for 90 more. In December 2016 ...
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NewsŠkoda becomes sole owner of Transtech
FINLAND: Škoda Transportation Group signed an agreement to purchase the remaining shares in Transtech on May 21. With the purchase of the 25% stake from Sinituote Oy, Škoda becomes the 100% owner of the Finnish rolling stock manufacturer. In 2015 Škoda Transportation Group acquired 75% of Transtech from investment ...