Further information

V: Finland Railway is a vision of the future for the main railway line, which is of paramount importance to Finland’s rail transport system. The project aims at improving the rail transport system in Finland as a whole. Primarily, this will be carried out through the development of the section between Riihimäki and Tampere and through the construction of the Airport Railway. In this way, we will solve the capacity shortage of the main line and enable direct transport by long-distance trains to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. It will also be possible to travel by train from Tampere to Helsinki in an hour.

V: Thanks to Finland Railway, we will be able to solve the main line’s capacity shortage. The key bottleneck is the section between Helsinki and Tampere, which is Finland’s busiest railway section. At present, the section is congested and prone to disruptions. Also, the tracks are in a bad condition. The main line has a considerable impact on Finland’s competitiveness. Thus, the railway line will be useful not only for the improvement of the entire country’s communications, but it will also affect Finland’s economy and employment situation as a whole, and how the country will manage to achieve its climate goals.

V: Finland Railway will benefit people, enterprises and Finland as a whole. Ordinary citizens can feel the benefits of the rail line through faster trains that are better at running on time, through the expansion of the commuting areas and through better communications to the airport. The enterprises benefit from the improved transport services due to the fact that these services affect movement of labour and transport of goods. All of Finland will benefit from more developed transport services and the improvement of the country’s international competitiveness. In addition, Finland Railway will be of assistance in the country’s endeavour to achieve its ambitious climate goals.

V: Yes. It will have a major impact on municipalities and towns that are not situated along the railway line as well. The country’s domestic transport services will become substantially better and faster, and, for instance, the service to the airport will improve from any location in Finland. The railway line will benefit ordinary people but also industry and enterprises. For instance, the forest industry that is so important to Finland relies heavily on rail transport and hence benefits directly from its development. Accessibility will also improve in the interest of the growing northbound tourism. Growth and higher tax revenue benefitting the entire country is a consequence of all of this.

V: The Tampere–Riihimäki direct line that is to be constructed, will shorten, for example, the time it takes to travel from Tampere to Helsinki from current 1 hour 33 minutes to about 1 hour. Those who go by train from Tampere and beyond to the airport will save even 45 minutes. From Helsinki you would be able to reach the airport in about 15 minutes.

V: The most important thing is to get started with the planning. General planning should be launched in 2019 and be completed as soon as possible. The objective is to influence the next government platform likewise to include a statement whereby the project receives a strong backing. The easiest and fastest way to get the planning going is for the government to establish a project company.

V: The easiest and fastest alternative is to establish a project company for Finland Railway, whose main shareholders would be the Finnish State and various public entities. In year 2021, the main line will be attached to the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). This will make investments in Finland Railway eligible for EU funding during the funding cycle for years 2021–2028. The TEN-T investment grants amount to 10–50 percent of the project expenditures and hence they affect the estimates substantially. As soon as the project planning has been set in motion, the various alternatives for carrying out the project will be surveyed thoroughly.

V: The government decided during the term of office spanning years 2015–2019 to establish Nordic Railways Ltd (formerly Oy Suomen Rata Ab) as a limited company where the government is the single owner. It aims at developing Finland’s rail transport services and promoting investments in rail transport generally. The intention was additionally to establish five subsidiaries to Nordic Railways Ltd with the Finland Railway project company being one of them. Its primary objective would be to develop the long-distance service between Tampere and Riihimäki, and to construct an electrified, long-distance railway line, called the Airport Railway, to link Helsinki-Vantaa Airport up to long-distance rail transport.

V: Finland Railway affects all of Finland instead of only one region. Half of the Finnish population live along the section of the main line that makes up Finland Railway, and its traffic flow is many times the flow of other sections. The number of people within the range of influence of the project is thus much larger than in other railway projects.

V: Half of the Finnish population live along the section of the main line that makes up Finland Railway. Consequently, you will affect the lives of many Finns by developing the railway line. At present, the main line is however badly congested and overloaded. It should be developed to be able to meet the increasing demand for rail transport in the future. Finland Railway enables growth of both passenger and freight transport. Also, by investing in rail transport we will able to support the popularity of sustainable means of transportation and help Finland achieve its climate goals. However, it does not mean that we should not take care of road maintenance as well.

V: Thanks to the development of the Airport Railway and the main line, transport services from abroad to Finland’s big cities but also from Finland to overseas locations will get much faster. Through Finland Railway, international air traffic will be part and parcel of the national rail transport services. Finland’s competitiveness in the context of the international community will improve, something that is crucial for a small export-driven country.

V: The Airport Railway will primarily improve the whole country’s transport services to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, not only those of the Capital Region. The Airport Railway will support the adequate functioning of the main line. It will enable faster travel to the airport via the main line and the direct line. Thus, in effect, it benefits virtually all of Finland. The Airport Railway will improve transport services, but it will also open up growth possibilities in other parts of Finland relevant to both industry and export that flow via Helsinki and the airport. The Airport Railway is certainly helpful from the point of view of business passengers and tourists who travel from Helsinki city centre to the airport, but this is only part of the traffic.

V: The development of the rail services makes rail transport more appealing to its users. As more people choose the train, their mode of transport becomes more sustainable with reference to the climate. Rail transport is responsible for just one percent of all transportation-related emissions in Finland. Additionally, faster train services will be perceived as more appealing in comparison with domestic flights.