Report: Becoming part of the European rail network would increase Finland’s competitiveness
Finland has a unique opportunity to improve its competitiveness and security of supply by becoming part of the European rail network. A report on freight traffic commissioned by Itärata Oy states that logistics connections in Finland could be included in the European track gauge via Rail Baltica.
The ‘Rail Baltica in East Railway freight traffic’ report commissioned by Itärata Oy shows that many factors support making Finland part of the European rail network and track gauge via the Baltic countries. The most important of these is the fact that the route through the Baltic countries is already one of the most important and fastest-growing export and import corridors. One quarter of trucks and trailers in Finland’s European traffic pass through the Baltic countries. During the 2000s, the volume of transport between Finland and Estonia has increased by 2.5 times and the volume of goods transported by truck has grown sevenfold. In 2023, the total volume of goods transported on the route was 11.4 million tonnes.
The Rail Baltica rail link will be completed on the Gulf of Finland’s southern shore at the beginning of the 2030s, thus connecting Tallinn to Warsaw on the European track gauge. From there, rail connections continue to Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Asia. Travel times along Rail Baltica on routes to Europe are clearly shorter than those based on maritime transport connections.
“Finland is one of the only EU countries without a proper link to European rail connections, and this poses a major risk to our country’s competitiveness. The key observation in our report is that Finland should be part of the European rail network via Rail Baltica. This is supported by the established position of the Baltic corridor, funding opportunities actively promoted by the EU regarding the transition to a 1,435 mm common rail network, and the extended core network of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), which also includes the East Railway,” says Petteri Portaankorva, CEO of Itärata Oy.
The study carried out by Destia and AFRY Finland examined the logistics opportunities offered by Rail Baltica and compared the differences between Finland and Sweden in terms of international transport connections. The report shows that Finland is at a logistics disadvantage in comparison to Sweden, which has versatile international transport connections that include a direct rail and road connection via Denmark to mainland Europe. Approximately 5% of Sweden’s imports and exports are transported by rail. The Fehmarnbelt tunnel scheduled for completion at the end of this decade will further improve the competitiveness of train connections between Denmark and Germany.
European track gauge all the way to Kouvola
One of the report’s findings reveals that Finland is almost totally isolated from intermodal transport, which is common in Europe. One form of intermodal transport involves carrying containers or trucks on trains, which means that their carbon dioxide emissions are significantly lower than those of road and sea transport. Rail Baltica would link Finland to the European intermodal transport network.
Connecting the East Railway to Rail Baltica would bring a track gauge of 1,435 mm all the way to Kouvola and link the rail and road transport terminal hub (RRT) located in Kouvola to the European rail network. Freight containers at RRT Kouvola could be efficiently transferred from Finnish freight trains and trucks to European trains.
“Transport connections must be examined from the perspective of Finland’s competitiveness as a whole, not as partially optimised local infrastructure projects. This is a question of strategic decisions that affect Finland’s long-term competitiveness and security. Now is the time to strengthen Finland’s European transport connections so that we can benefit from developments elsewhere in the EU,” says Arto Räty, who chairs the Board of Directors of Itärata Oy.
