VR sees more long-distance passengers in Nov

About 1.3 million journeys were made by train in long-distance traffic in Finland In November, which is 8% higher compared to the number in stipulated month of the previous year, said national railway operator VR in a press release on Thursday.

This year, a total of 13.9 million long-distance journeys were made in January–November, which is already more than in 2022, when a total of 13.2 million journeys were made.

About 2.1 million tonnes of goods were transported by rail in November, and a total of 21.2 million tonnes were transported by rail in January–November.

In November, the volume of freight traffic decreased by 18% from the previous year due to the downturn in the industrial sector and the end of traffic across Finland’s eastern border.

Compared to the previous year, the growth in the number of long-distance traffic journeys is mainly explained by the growth in leisure travel, especially on weekends, and the growth in business travel on weekdays. Especially night train traffic to and from Lapland grew strongly.

Meanwhile, the punctuality of long-distance traffic in November was 84.5%. The causes of delays were divided among track-related causes (51%), other causes (21%) and VR-related causes (28%), which had to do with, for example, rolling stock.

The punctuality of long-distance traffic was particularly decreased by temporary speed limits due to track maintenance work.

The punctuality of VR’s commuter traffic in November was 95.5%. The causes of delays were divided among other causes (57%), track-related causes (28%) and VR-related causes (14%).