EU funds rail improvements in Finland

The European Union has selected two Finnish rail projects for co-financing under the 2010 TEN-T Calls which will see the overall modernisation of two key rail routes in the country for a total support of over €5.7 million.

The Seinäjoki-Oulu section is a single-track railway line which is currently operating at full capacity levels and creating a bottleneck on the north-south axis for the entire Finnish rail network. The EU has decided, based on the proposal presented by Finland during the 2010 TEN-T Calls, to co-fund a broad renovation and upgrade of this section to improve capacity, safety and speed. Concretely, this will entail:

• Improvement of rail infrastructure and associated superstructures
• New safety equipment
• Improvements in electrification of the track(s)
• Removal of level-crossings at sections where operation speeds will be raised
• Improvements of specific sections to enable higher axle loads and operation speeds
• Capacity improvements (double track sections)
• Choice of procurement model

The improvements are split into two distinct actions. The first one involves the Seinäjoki-Ruha and Pännäinen-Liminka sections and the planning phase for the Liminka-Oulu one, receiving a total EU contribution of €4.54 million. The second concerns studies regarding the feasibility of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) procurement model for the Kokkola-Ylivieska section, with a maximum EU contribution of €1.21 million. The €5.7 million of support contributed by the EU will help to ensure a better and safer flow of rail traffic along one of the key axis in Finland, thus aiding the smoother flow of goods and people in the country.