Cold weather forces VR to cancel dozens of long-distance trains

National railway operator VR cancelled dozens of long-distance train services scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday due to the ongoing severe cold weather across the country, said VR in a press release on Thursday.

Passengers having a valid ticket for the cancelled trains will be able to rebook their tickets at free of cost. They can also cancel the ticket and VR will refund the money.

About 20 long-distance train services will be cancelled every day during the three days and a significant number of services will be cancelled on Helsinki-Kupitta, Tampere-Pori and Seinäjoki-Vaasa routes.

Senior Vice-President of VR long-distance trains Piia Tyynilä said that the trains were taken out of service over the last few days and will go in for defrosting and maintenance over the weekend, which will help to operate train services smoothly in the coming days.

“We are very sorry for the cancellation of these train services. However, the measure is necessary to ensure the continuation of traffic when intense frost continues," Tyynilä added.

The rail communication is facing disruption since Monday afternoon due to the ongoing severe cold weather across Finland.

The ongoing severe cold wave continued across the country and the temperature fell further in the Finnish Lapland on Thursday morning.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) recorded season highest minus 42.7 degrees Celsius temperature at Enontekiö airport at 11:14 am.