In July 1995 the Finnish State Railways (VR) was reconstituted as a joint-stock company called VR Group.

Organization
VR-Group Ltd is the parent company of the VR Group, which comprises 22 subsidiaries and a workforce of 17,000 employees.
The largest subsidiaries are VR Limited (passenger and freight services), VR-Track Ltd (construction and maintenance of the railway network), VR-Data Ltd, the Pohjolan Liikenne group (road transportation and coach services), and Avecra Ltd (catering and kiosk service).

Sales
Consolidated net sales for the period 1 July 1995 - 31 December 1996 totalled FIM 9.4 billion and the net profit was FIM 460 million. VR Group is one of Finland’s 30 largest companies.

Operations
VR’s most important activities involve freight and passenger transportation and include the construction and maintenance of the railway tracks. The Group is also involved in truck and coach operations and has interests in catering and real estate.

Network
The Finnish railway network is approximately 5,800 km long. Roughly 2,000 km of this, including all main lines, is electrified. The network is managed by the Finnish Rail Administration, which operates under the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Rolling stock
VR has approximately 350 diesel locomotives and more than 110 electric locomotives. Altogether 100 electric trains are in service in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The locomotive fleet will be thoroughly modernized in the next few years.
The company’s rolling stock comprises about 14,000 goods wagons and 1,000 passenger coaches.
The new Pendolino tilting-body express train has been introduced between Helsinki and Turku. Rail cars from an international supplier will be introduced on certain low-volume line sections in the near future.

Transport volumes
In 1996 VR transported almost 40 million tons of goods: 22 million tons on railways in Finland and 16 million tons internationally, and, in addition, some two million tons by trucks. VR conducted over 56 million passenger journeys.


For further information:
Leena Linnamäki, Chief Press Officer
Tel: +358-9-707 3873
Fax: +358-9-707 3500
Internet: www.vr.fi