Commuter rail traffic grew strongly in Q4/2024 (+13% vs Q4/2023). This growth can be attributed to the completion of the Tikkurila railyard and the new route on the Karjaa–Hanko line. The total volume of road traffic on main roads also grew slightly towards the end of the year. Air traffic grew in 2024, even if there was a slight dip in the growth at the end of the year despite Lapland's busy Christmas season. The number of visits in Fintraffic’s digital services almost tripled from the previous year, with the award-winning Fintraffic App remaining the most popular service.
“The end of 2024 was a time of growth, especially in commuter train traffic. The completion of significant track work, such as the Tikkurila railyard project, has streamlined traffic arrangements and enabled significant growth in commuter traffic in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. There was also a slight increase in long-distance traffic towards the end of the year, influenced by the busy tourism season in Lapland. This was also reflected in Fintraffic’s Christmas traffic survey, according to which Finns still prefer trains for long journeys. The growing popularity of rail transport is a positive trend in reducing transport emissions,” says Fintraffic: CEO Pia Julin.
“2024 was a record year for our digital services. The number of visits grew dramatically, and our services reached over 3.2 million visits in the fourth quarter. This shows that Finns value reliable traffic information. More and more people want to use traffic information when planning their journey,” says Julin.
Commuter rail traffic volume increased by 13 per cent
During the last quarter, the volume of commuter rail traffic increased by 13.4 per cent from the same period of the previous year. The growth of commuter traffic has been made possible by the completion of the Tikkurila railyard works, which completed the first phase of the Helsinki-Riihimäki railway project. The new service on the Karjaa–Hanko line given a boost to commuter traffic volumes. In other parts of Finland, the share of commuter services has remained comparable to the end of 2023. The volumes of long-distance and freight traffic on railways also remained at approximately the same level as in the previous year.
Train punctuality was 88.9% (91.2%) in commuter traffic, 83.1% (82.1%) in long-distance traffic and 91.5% (90.5%) in rail freight services. These figures have been influenced by the exceptionally high number of storms at the end of the year (e.g. Jari and Lyly). The catenary damage south of Tikkurila and the resulting speed limit contributed to delays for individual trains. In addition, maintenance work on the Helsinki–Kerava line has had an impact on the availability of the line in late 2024. Punctuality in Northwest Finland has improved compared to last year. This positive development has been bolstered by the completion of the interlocking and remote control projects in Oulu and Joensuu.
There were 17 per cent fewer track works this year compared to the end of 2023. The lateness of winter reduced the need for winter maintenance work.
Nearly triple the user numbers in Fintraffic’s digital services
During the final quarter of 2024, Fintraffic's digital services logged nearly 3.2 million visits (Q3/2024, 2.3 million visits). Compared to the corresponding period in 2023, the number of visits to Fintraffic's digital services has near tripled. The Fintraffic App, which won the Suomen paras asiakasteko 2024 award in October, is still our most popular service and has been used 2 million times. In addition, use of the Traffic Situation and Feedback Channel services have developed favourably.
In the fourth quarter of the year, 1.56 billion calls were made in Fintraffic’s Digitraffic services traffic data APIs (1.52 billion calls in the third quarter of the year). Records were once again broken in 2024, as the total number of API calls grew to over six billion (+29%). In 2024, the data transfer volume exceeded 668 terabytes (+35%).
During the final quarter of the year, approximately 4.48 billion interface calls (+18%) were made to the Digitransit platform to gain access to public transport journey data. In the final quarter, a total of 74.69 terabytes of data was transferred through Digitransit. Finnish public transport journey planners make extensive use of the shared knowledge base through the Digitransit platform.
“2024 has been a great year of growth for our digital services. The Fintraffic App has boosted the number of users to record levels, which has also increased our impact. We have been determined to develop our digital traffic services to reduce emissions and improve safety, traffic flow and the ease of travel for Finns. It is fantastic that so many Finns have already discovered the Fintraffic App,” says Janne Lautanala Fintraffic’s Chief Ecosystem and Technology Officer.
Positive trend in air traffic falls slightly towards the end of the year
Although Lapland’s busy Christmas season kept air traffic controllers busy, the growth of air traffic that started early in the year waned towards the end of it. The number of inbound and outbound flights increased by six per cent compared to the previous year. The total number of flights in Finnish airspace grew by five per cent compared to the same period last year.
In the fourth quarter, the number of overflights by Chinese airlines fell dramatically. However, the number of overflights in Finnish airspace grew by two per cent compared to the same period last year, but the increase in the previous quarter (7–9/2024) was more than ten per cent (11.6).
Road traffic volumes grow towards end of the year
In October-December, total road traffic volumes on main roads (highways and main roads) have increased slightly from what they were during the same period last year: a growth of 3.5 per cent in the number of cars and vans, and slight growth of three per cent in the volume of heavy goods vehicles.
The total volume of road traffic in 2024 were at the same level as in the previous year. According to preliminary data, the increase from 2023 is approximately one per cent.
