Rail freight traffic decreased by 22 % in the year 2022

Rail passenger traffic in 2022

In 2022, the total number of trips in passenger traffic by rail totalled 76 million, which was 21 million more than in 2021. The number of trips increased by 38 per cent from 2021.

Of trips, 83 per cent were made in local traffic and 17 per cent in long-distance traffic. The number of trips in local traffic increased by 35 per cent and in long-distance traffic grew by 56 per cent from the previous year.

Of the trips made in long-distance traffic, 13.2 million were made in Finland and only 31 000 in international traffic. The average length of trips was 60 kilometers, which was 7.3 kilometers longer than in the year before.

In 2022, the number of passenger-kilometres in train traffic increased by 57 per cent from the previous year. Passenger-kilometres totalled 4.6 billion, of which long-distance traffic accounted for 78 per cent and local traffic for 22 per cent.

Rail freight traffic in 2022

A total of 31.2 million tonnes of freight were transported by rail in Finland in 2022. The volume of freight transported fell by 22 per cent from the previous year. The transport performance of freight transported by rail totalled 8.8 billion tonne-kilometres, which was 18 per cent less than in 2021. Of tonne-kilometres, 83 per cent came from domestic traffic and 17 per cent from international traffic. The average length of a freight transport journey was 283 kilometres, which was 15 kilometres longer than in the previous year.

Wood and wood products were transported most by rail, amounting to 12 million tonnes last year. The share of the product group was 38 per cent of all transported tonnes. Paper industry products were transported second most, in total 6.5 million tonnes, followed by 5.5 million tonnes of chemical industry products. The transport performance was highest in the transport of wood and wood products, 3.7 billion tonne-kilometres, which was 42 per cent of all transport.

Train traffic performances in 2022

The total number of train-kilometres was 48.7 million train-kilometres in 2022. Train kilometres in passenger traffic by rail increased by six per cent and passenger traffic accounted for 71 per cent of all train-kilometres. Train-kilometres in freight traffic decreased by five per cent in 2022.

The share of the electric tractive stock was 90 per cent of train-kilometres in 2022. The train-kilometres of electric locomotives grew by four per cent and train kilometres of electric railcars grew by five per cent from 2021. The share of electric locomotives in the train-kilometres of the electric tractive stock was 60 per cent.

In 2022, locomotive-kilometres totalled 64 million. The share of electric locomotives was 47 per cent and that of electric railcars was 39 per cent of locomotive-kilometres. In all, 12 per cent of locomotive-kilometres were driven with diesel locomotives and three per cent with diesel railcars.

The total volume of gross tonne-kilometres of train traffic was 29.5 billion gross tonne-kilometres in 2022. Freight traffic accounted for 62 per cent of the gross tonne-kilometres and passenger traffic for 37 per cent of the gross tonne-kilometres. Gross tonne-kilometres of freight traffic fell by 16 per cent from the previous year but those of passenger traffic increased by nine per cent. In passenger traffic, the gross tonne-kilometres of long-distance trains were 8.1 billion gross tonne-kilometres and in local trains 2.7 billion gross tonne-kilometres. In passenger traffic, the average train weight was 311 tonnes and in freight traffic 1,321 tonnes in 2022.

In 2022, a total of 26.3 billion gross tonne-kilometres were hauled, of which 16.9 billion gross tonne-kilometres hauled came from freight traffic and 9.4 billion from passenger traffic.

In 2022, the total number of vehicle-axle-kilometres of passenger and freight trains was 2 billion vehicle-axle-kilometres, which was 5 per cent less than in 2021. Coaches accumulated 0.6 billion vehicle-axle-kilometres and freight wagons 1.3 billion vehicle-axle-kilometres. Of vehicle-axle-kilometres, 71 per cent were hauled by electric locomotives and 14 per cent by diesel locomotives. Electric railcars accounted for 15 per cent and diesel railcars 0.4 per cent of all vehicle-axle-kilometres.

Energy consumption in train traffic totalled 2.7 petajoules in 2022, which is a 10 per cent decrease from 2021. Measured in petajoules, the share of electricity was 69 per cent and that of light fuel oil 31 per cent of energy consumption.

Railway accidents in 2022

There were 16 accidents classified as significant on railways in 2022. The number of significant accidents decreased by nine compared with 2021. In the accidents, four persons were killed and seven seriously injured. The number of persons killed was six less and one less was seriously injured than in 2021. Most of the accidents leading to death and serious injuries were accidents to persons caused by rolling stock in motion. Three persons died in accidents to persons caused by rolling stock in motion and four persons were seriously injured in them in 2021.

The number of significant rail traffic accidents was 0.33 per million train-kilometres. In 2021, the corresponding ratio was 0.53.

Rail network in 2022

The length of the Finnish rail network was 5,918 kilometres at the end of 2022. Of the rail network, 5,205 kilometres were single-track railways and 713 kilometres two-track or multi-track railways. A total of 3,449 kilometres of the rail network have been electrified. One-half of single-track track railways are electrified and double-track or multiple-track track railways are fully electrified.

At the end of 2022, the length of the Finnish rail network was 8,577 track-kilometres, of which 6,728 were main tracks and 1,849 were sidings. The length of the rail network had gone down by 16 track-kilometres from the previous year. In all, 5,325 kilometres or 79 per cent of main tracks were tracks with concrete sleepers. Continuous-welded tracks amounted to 5,367 kilometres in 2022.

At the end of 2022, the Finnish railway network had 2,515 level crossings, which is 52 fewer than in the year before. Of the level crossings, 1,784 were without safety equipment and 731 had safety equipment. There were 2,253 level-separated crossings, of which 891 had overpasses and 1,362 underpasses.

Investments in track construction and maintenance amounted to EUR 519 million in 2022, which is 18 per cent more than one year earlier.