VR Group
VR-Group Plc, commonly known as VR, is a government-owned railway company in Finland. VR's most important function is the operation of Finland's passenger rail services with 250 long-distance and 800 commuter rail services every day. With 7,500 employees and net sales of €1,251 million in 2017, VR is one of the most significant operators in the Finnish public transport market area.
VR was created in 1995 after being known as, Finnish: Suomen Valtion Rautatiet from 1862 to 1922, and Valtionrautatiet from 1922 to 1995.
The concern includes subsidiaries Avecra for onboard catering service and Pohjolan Liikenne for bus traffic. Its headquarters is located at the building, previously occupied by the state-owned broadcasting company Yle, in northern-central Helsinki.
History
Rail transport started in Finland in 1862 between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna. Multiple main lines and smaller private railways were built in the following decades. VR mainly operated on the high-demand main lines. During the twentieth century, most private railway companies were shut down and VR assumed a monopoly in rail transport. In 1995 the company went through a process of corporatization to become the VR Group.Since 2010, the maintenance and the construction of the railway network have been the responsibility of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. The operation and network were originally carried out by the parent company Valtionrautatiet until 1995, when it was split into VR and the rail administration entity Ratahallintokeskus.
Norwegian company NRC Group bought VR Track in 2018 for €225 million. In 2023, VR sold its road freight transport division to German investment firm Mutares.
Services
Because in most parts of Finland the density of population is low, Finland is not optimally suited for railways. Commuter services are nowadays rare outside the Helsinki area, but express trains interconnect most cities. As in France, the majority of passenger services are connections to the capital, Helsinki. In the 2010s, VR has made connections faster by reducing stops at minor stations and increasing running speeds with new locomotives and renovated high-speed trains.VR provides motorail services. Cars can be loaded onto and unloaded from trains at seven stations: Helsinki, Turku and Tampere in the south, Oulu further north, and Rovaniemi, Kemijärvi and Kolari in Lapland. Car transport trains stop at other stations along the way for normal passenger transport and is available as daily service to Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi and several times a week to Kolari. Finland is the only Nordic country to offer car transport on trains; however, car transport on trains is available in many European countries outside the Nordic countries. In August 2021 VR began operating the Tampere light rail.
Commuter rail
VR operates the commuter traffic in the Helsinki area on behalf of HSL and its own commuter rail services in southern Finland.International services
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, VR operated jointly with Russian Railways a passenger rail service named Allegro between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg. However due to sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all passenger rail traffic between Finland and Russia has been suspended in March 2022, and the rolling stock has since been parked. These trains were in late 2023 taken over by VR, and have re-entered service as Pendolino Plus trains in November 2025, travelling between Helsinki and Turku and Helsinki and Oulu. The trains are aimed specifically at business travelers and commuters, and they are meeting the growing demand. There are currently four Pendolino Plus trains and they have begun service in November, partially replacing some IC and Pendolino trains on some routes.The railway line from Finland to Haparanda, Sweden over the Torne River Railway Bridge was electrified by 2025. VR has proposed re-instating passenger service to Haparanda assuming a subsidy for the service is given, but that was not included in the Finnish 2026 budget. VR's predecessor previously terminated its traffic to Haparanda in 1988, and the Swedish State Railways withdrew its traffic from Luleå, Sweden to Tornio, Finland in 1992.
Freight
In 2025, VR had a market share of 87% of the rail freight in Finland.VR terminated its international freight operations over the Russian border following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Freight traffic to Sweden usually does not continue further than Tornio by rail due to differences in the track gauge between the two countries, although a possibility to exchange bogies exists. Train ferry connections from Turku to Stockholm, Sweden via VR's former subsidiary SeaRail were terminated at the end of 2011.
Rolling stock
Locomotives
As of 2025, the company operates three classes of electric locomotives and four classes of diesel locomotives. The use of diesel locomotive hauled passenger trains has declined due to electrification of all main lines and the introduction of railbuses on secondary routes.On 20 December 2013, VR announced plans to purchase 80 new electric locomotives, with 97 options. The upcoming Sr3 will be based on the Vectron and will replace the aging Sr1. The locomotives will be fitted with helper diesel engines that can be used for shunting in partly unelectrified railyards. Deliveries will occur between 2017 and 2026.
VR has purchased 60 Dr19 locomotives from Stadler Rail Valencia which will be delivered by the end of 2026. The Dr19 order will allow the company to retire its Dr16 locomotives by the end of 2025.
| Class | No. in use | Years of manufacture | Max. speed | Power type | Notes |
| Sr1 | 109 | 1973–85, 1993 | 140 km/h | Electric | Some originally had a maximum speed of 160 km/h |
| Sr2 | 36 | 1995–2003 | 210 km/h | Electric | - |
| Sr3 | 77 | 2016– | 200 km/h | Electric | - |
| Dv12 | 64 | 1963–84 | 125 km/h | Diesel-hydraulic | Pre-1976 classes: Sv12 and Sr12 |
| Dr14 | 19 | Co-Co | 85 km/h | Diesel | - |
| Dr16 | 4 | 1985–92 | 140 km/h | Diesel-electric | 3-phase AC inverter drive |
| Dr19 | 34 | 2022–26 | 120 km/h | Diesel-electric |
| Class | Years in use | Wheel arrangement | Max. speed | Power type |
| Dr13 | 1962–2000 | Co-Co | 140 km/h | Diesel |
Carriages
The wide Finnish loading gauge allows the passenger coaches to be considerably wider than most European passenger coaches. The aisle and seats are wider than in other European trains in the standard 2+2 configuration, and in commuter traffic 3+2 seat configuration is used to allow more seats for the same train length.Double-deck InterCity carriages are the common coaches in the long-distance trains and the mainstay of VR's network. There are several variants, including coaches with first class service, family-friendly coaches and coaches with bike as baggage capability. The coaches are built in Finland by Transtech and have a top speed of 200 km/h.
"Blue" carriages, as they are popularly known as such due to their blue and light gray liveries, are used on night express trains from Helsinki to Kolari and Kemijärvi. Top speed is 140 or 160 km/h. On the "Blue" carriages, first class used to be distinguished by a yellow stripe above the windows and restaurant cars by a red stripe. Cars equipped with diesel generators, which are used to provide electricity to InterCity or sleeper wagons on non-electrified tracks, can be distinguished by a blue stripe above the windows.
Sleeper cars
VR operates sleeper services between Helsinki/Turku and Lapland, which also include car-carrying wagons. Double-deck sleeping carriages were introduced on the Helsinki–Rovaniemi service in the 2000s. These wagons are painted in a green-and-white livery similar to the InterCity coaches. Since 2016, the new coaches have begun to replace the blue carriages even on the way to Kolari.Electrification extends from Oulu northwards to Kemijärvi. In 2006, direct sleeper services were discontinued beyond Rovaniemi because the new double-deck sleeping carriages were unable to operate with diesel haulage. The sleeper service to Kemijärvi was restarted in March 2008, by adding to the train in Rovaniemi a new diesel generator car supplying 1,500 V electricity for the sleeper cars between Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi; this setup was continued in use until the electrification extension to Kemijärvi was completed at the end of 2013. Sleeper services between Turku and Joensuu and Helsinki and Kajaani were withdrawn in 2006, but with the new direct line between Lahti and Kerava, the daytime services were made quicker.
On 12 January 2009, VR announced they had requested tenders for the purchase of 20 new sleeping cars, valued at €60–70 million. The two bidders interested were Alstom, which manufactures the Pendolino and some commuter trains for VR, and Finnish Transtech, which manufactured VR's new sleeping cars. The decision led to the resignation of the President and CEO of VR-Group, Henri Kuitunen, and the group's Chairman of the Board, Antti Lagerroos. Helsingin Sanomat reported they had wanted to defer the replacement of older sleeping car rolling stock until 2012 at the earliest. However, the decision went ahead because VR is a state owned business and there was pressure to seek orders from Finnish Transtech, which is currently struggling due to market downturns, in order to secure jobs.