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A total of 1,203,000 long-distance journeys in September

5. October 2022 Press releases

In September, about 1,203,000 journeys were made in domestic long-distance traffic, which is about 56% more than in September 2021 and 1% more than in September 2019. VR Transpoint’s railway transport volumes were 20% lower in September when compared to last year, with about 2.4 million tonnes of goods transported by rail. In total, 9.53 million domestic long-distance journeys were made and 22.4 million tonnes of goods were transported by rail in January–September this year.

"Although the holiday season is behind us and we have returned to everyday life, September was at the level of our record year of 2019 in terms of passenger volumes in our long-distance traffic. Finnish people want to continue choosing carbon-neutral public transport and engage in efforts for the climate, one journey at a time", says Topi Simola, Senior Vice President of Passenger Services.

VR Transpoint's domestic rail transport volumes are rising in September

In September, the volume of domestic railway transport increased by 12% and international traffic decreased by 66% year-on-year. In VR Transpoint’s railway transport, total transport volumes decreased in September by 20% year-on-year to 2.4 (3.0) million tonnes. In January–September this year, 22.4 (27.8) million tonnes of goods were transported by rail, which is about 19% less than in the previous year. Eastern traffic will be gradually phased out by the end of the year.

In September, punctuality in long-distance traffic was affected by track-related issues

In September, delays in long-distance traffic were largely due to reasons related to the tracks.
The punctuality of long-distance traffic improved in September and was 87.3%. Primary delay entries were divided among track-related causes (56%), VR-related causes (22%) and other causes (22%).

The punctuality of VR's commuter traffic was 96.3% in September. The reasons for delays were divided among other causes (47%), track-related causes (35%) and VR-related causes (18%).

The average punctuality of HSL commuter trains continued its excellent rate, amounting to 0.60 minutes in September. The reasons for delays were divided among other causes (55%), track-related causes (31%) and VR-related causes (14%).