VR Group

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VR or VR Group (VR-Yhtymä) is a state-owned railway company in Finland, and formerly known as Valtionrautatiet (State Railways). Its most important function is the operation of freight and passenger rail services. Maintenance and construction of the railway network itself is the responsibility of the Finnish Rail Administration (Ratahallintokeskus - RHK). Both operation and network were originally handled by the parent company Valtionrautatiet, which split into the two current ones in 1995.

Companies in the VR group also provide road freight and bus services, carry out catering activities and real estate management, and provide data, technological, and telecommunications services for the transport and logistics sectors. The group owns a bus company Pohjolan Liikenne and a road freight haulage company Transpoint.

Finnish trains have a reputation for being spacious, comfortable and clean. The scenery surrounding the railway lines is considered to be of outstanding natural beauty, especially in Eastern Finland where there are many lakes. Because in most parts of Finland density of population is low, Finland is not very well suited for railways. Commuter services are nowadays rare outside Helsinki area, but there are express train connections between most of the cities. As in France, passenger services are mostly connections from various parts of the country to the capital, Helsinki. In addition there are also good ExpressBus and aeroplane connections, both of which are generally little or a lot more expensive than trains. Buses are sometimes faster and/or cheaper than trains (e.g. Helsinki-Pori).

The Finnish railway network during the Finnish Civil War in 1918. The two east-west main lines gave both the Reds (in red) and the Whites a logistic backbone.

The only international passenger rail services from Finland are to Russia. There are two passenger trains a day to St Petersburg, called Sibelius and Repin, and one overnight train to Moscow via St Petersburg called Tolstoi. There are plans to modernise the tracks on the Helsinki - St Petersburg line to enable them to support higher speed Pendolino trains. International freight traffic is mostly concentrated to the four railways across the Russian border, but there is also a connection to the Swedish rail network in Tornio and rail ferry connections from Turku to Stockholm, Sweden and to Travemünde, Germany.

Both domestic and international freight services are provided by VR Cargo, part of VR Group.

Altogether the group of companies includes 21 companies employing a total of about 14,400 persons. The President and CEO of the VR group of companies is Henri Kuitunen.

[edit] History

The Finland Railway Bridge across the Neva connected the Finnish State Railways to Russian Railways.

The Finnish State Railways was founded by the Senate of Finland in 1862.^{[citation needed]} The first rail line between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna was opened in 1862. An extension from Riihimäki to the new Finland Station in Saint Petersburg was opened in 1870. As Finland was a Grand Principality under Imperial Russia, railways were built to the broader Russian track gauge (1524 mm, i.e. 5 ft. exactly), rather than to the Western European standard gauge of 1435 mm. The Finland Railway Bridge across the River Neva in Saint Petersburg, opened in 1912, connected the Finnish State Railways to Russian Railways. Following the Finnish independence, the railway from the border to Saint Petersburg, previously owned by Finnish State Railways, was handed over to Russian authorities.

In the coming decades the company incorporated most private Finnish railways, such as the Hanko-Hyvinkää Railroad, and several others. As of 2007, there is only one private railway left, a short branch line with freight traffic only, in Karhula, near Kotka. The Finnish Railway Museum is also the official company museum.

[edit] Travel time and speed

Travel time and speed by fastest train connections from/to Helsinki after 3 September 2006.

[edit] Electrification

Most of Finland's railways are now electrified. The system used is 25 kV overhead wiring. The largest class of electric locomotives are the Sr1 class (built in the Soviet Union in the 1970s), but are now supplemented by the Sr2 class and the high-speed Pendolino units.

[edit] Pendolino

A Pendolino train

Pendolino is the name given to VR's premier passenger trains. They are high-speed tilting trains which operate at average speeds of 120–220 km/h (the highest speed ever reached by a Pendolino is 248 km/h). The trains themselves are distinguished in Finnish railway timetables by the letter S.

The Pendolino system was chosen at the beginning of the 1990s because of the twisting nature of a great many of the country's rail routes. Building trains that could ensure passenger comfort at high speed on these routes by tilting through the curves was a much cheaper solution than reconstructing the railway network itself.

Thanks to its tilting mechanism, the Pendolino – unlike such other European high-speed trains as the TGV, Thalys, and AVE – does not need to run on specialised high-speed lines; instead, it runs on existing lines. This has both beneficial and negative consequences. The trains cannot run at as high a speed as, for example, the TGV, due to the lines. However, the Pendolino can also run alongside 'standard' trains, allowing for greater use of the railway. Also, building high-speed lines costs a lot more, which makes them uneconomical due to Finland's low population and long distances. Despite its relatively low speeds for a high-speed network, the Pendolino has been successful due to the fact that it connects many Finnish cities and towns, similar to the TGV, which spans a large number of major cities in France.

The Pendolino is a premium facility train. There are audio sockets for radio and music channels, as well as headphones. In some seats, there are also electricity sockets for laptop and mobile phones. There is a bistro on board that serves snack bar-style dishes. In Business Plus Class (1st class), there is personal service and a complimentary meal, similar to airline service.

[edit] Pendolino routes

The Pendolino fast train network radiates out from Helsinki. The following destinations are served (the list includes the changes which will follow opening of the new high-speed line from Kerava to Lahti on 3 September 2006):

• Espoo
• Hämeenlinna until 2 September 2006
• Haukivuori until 2 September 2006
• Iisalmi
• Imatra
• Jämsä
• Joensuu
• Joutseno from 3 September 2006
• Jyväskylä
• Kajaani
• Karis
• Kesälahti from 3 September 2006
• Kirkkonummi
• Kitee from 3 September 2006
• Kokkola
• Kouvola
• Kuopio
• Kupittaa
• Lahti
• Lapinlahti until 2 September 2006
• Lappeenranta
• Mäntyharju until 2 September 2006
• Mikkeli
• Orivesi
• Oulu
• Parikkala
• Parkano
• Pasila
• Pieksämäki
• Riihimäki until 2 September 2006
• Salo
• Seinäjoki
• Siilinjärvi until 2 September 2006
• Kempele from 3 September 2006
• Suonenjoki until 2 September 2006
• Tampere
• Tikkurila from 3 September 2006
• Turku
• Vihanti until 2 September 2006
• Ylivieska

[edit] Commuter traffic in Helsinki area

VR runs commuter traffic in Helsinki Metropolitan Area. See VR commuter rail.

[edit] See also

• Transportation in Finland
• List of Finnish government owned companies
• List of railway companies
• TransPoint
• ExpressBus
• SJ, RZD
• List of railway lines in Finland

[edit] External links

• VR
• Finnish Rail Administration
• Finnish Railway Museum
• For Eurail and Finland Rail Passes