A cautious upturn in freight traffic is visible. In rail transport in particular, the volume of freight traffic increased in the second quarter of the year. It has been driven by, among other things, an increase in timber trade. The number of flights in Finnish airspace has also increased, and international air traffic in particular has started to reach the levels of the year preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. More than ever, companies and citizens are using traffic data in their business and everyday life.
“After a long period of declining freight volumes, we are finally seeing an upturn. In road transport, the increase is very modest, but in rail transport, the number of freight trains increased by as much as 7% compared to the same period last year. We are particularly pleased that Fintraffic's digital services reached more Finns than ever before. Both companies and private citizens are using traffic information in different situations, making travel and transport chains smoother, saving both costs and the environment,” says Pia Julin, CEO of Fintraffic.
Traffic data
Fintraffic's digital services generated a record 1.8 million visits in the second quarter (Q1, 1.5 million). The most popular services were Fintraffic Mobile, Traffic Situation and Train Departures
The open data shared by Fintraffic was the most used data in the history of Digitraffic to develop services and applications for other operators. A total of 1.55 billion searches were performed using Fintraffic’s open traffic data interfaces between April and June. The increase compared to the same period last is 31%. 186 GB of data was shared, an increase of 38% compared to the same period last year and 31% compared to the first quarter of this year.
During the second quarter of the year, approximately 4.31 billion interface calls were made for public transport travel data in the Digitransit platform. The increase was as much as 43% compared to the same period last year. In Digitransit, 58.5 TB of data was shared in the second quarter. Finnish public transport route guides make extensive use of the common knowledge base through the Digitransit platform.
Fintraffic provides real-time traffic information to consumers, companies and the media, as well as open-source data for transport operators, logistics service providers and software developers to use in a variety of map services and navigators.
"The collection, processing and use of transport data is the cornerstone of a modern transport system, and the basis on which transport services are created. Data collection benefits individual road users but also has a wider impact on society and the economy: transport data is key to maintaining and developing an efficient, safe and sustainable transport system. Open data can be used to create entirely new business," says Janne Lautanala Chief Ecosystem and Technology Officer at Fintraffic.
Rail traffic
In the second quarter of the year, the volume of goods transported by rail was almost 7% higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year.
"The increase in freight traffic is due, among other things, to the transport of raw timber for the needs of factories. There has also been an increase in trade in timber, which has boosted the movement of raw timber by rail. The situation in Russia has changed traffic flows and freight train volumes have increased in Finland's internal transport,” says Teemu Pöyry, Regional Director of Fintraffic Raide Oy.
Similarly, the volume of commuter traffic increased by almost 6%. The increase in commuter traffic has been made possible, for example, by the start of traffic on the Karjaa-Hanko route after last year's traffic disruption (Karjaa-Hanko electrification work). In practice, this has meant an increase in traffic of around 12–14 trains per day, or 400 per month.
In addition, due to the KoKoHa project (Kouvola-Kotka-Hamina), commuter trains were replaced by bus services between Kotka and Kouvola for several weeks from the end of last year. Commuter traffic on that line has now restarted and also contributed to the growth in commuter traffic in the second quarter of this year.
In passenger transport, the number of long-distance trains remained at the same level as in the same period last year.
Train punctuality rates were on the decline. Train punctuality was 90.4% (94%) in commuter traffic, 78.4% (87.9%) in long-distance traffic and 90.5% (93.3%) in rail freight services. This was partly due to the exceptionally long period of snow work on the rail network in April. During the period under review, there have also been several track works and major railway projects. In the period examined, the number of track works was 36,027 (35,563). This has led to a large number of speed limits being set in different parts of Finland.
Major rail projects include the Espoo Rail Line, Tikkurila and Kytömaa – Ainola, the Joensuu and Oulu railway yards, the construction of Seinäjoki Travel Centre and Kupittaa–Turku. For example, in the Tampere control area alone, almost a thousand more track work permits have been issued this year than in the same period in 2023. There were also speed restrictions on the rail network this spring due to frost.
Air traffic
International air traffic and the number of flights over Finland have increased compared to the same period last year.
The number of flights in Finnish airspace increased up to the end of June, and international air traffic in particular has started to reach the levels of the year preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. Between April and May, there were several days with more than 500 flights, which is already equal to the average for the record year of 2019. The growth in air traffic has been boosted by, among other things, Finnair adding flights to its summer schedules. Traffic volumes are also increasing with Russian aircraft flying to Kaliningrad, as the air traffic over the Gulf of Finland is being provided with an air navigation service in accordance with international rules. The number of overflights in Finnish airspace is also increasing. Chinese airlines in particular have increased their flights considerably," says Raine Luojus, CEO of Fintraffic Air Navigation Services Ltd.
Road traffic
Total traffic volumes on main roads (highways and main roads) in April–June were almost at the same level as in the same period last year.
Light vehicle transport (cars and vans) volumes fell only slightly from the previous year, by 0.3 percentage points. Heavy goods vehicles have been on the decline for some time, but there is now a very slight upturn in such traffic. The volume of heavy goods vehicle traffic increased by 0.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
