The holiday season is the top peak of winter traffic that can be seen at Traffic Management Finland (TMFG)’s traffic control on roads, railways and in the airspace. However, this year’s traffic volume is distributed over a longer period of time due to holidays falling on business days. This will even out the worst holiday traffic peaks. Traffic Management Centres, railway traffic control and air traffic control are prepared for the increased holiday traffic. TMFG’s traffic control and management services operate on land, at sea and in the air with the 24/7 principle, also during the holiday season.
Holiday traffic on the road: Take your time, prepare for the weather and plan in advance
Traffic Management Centres will guide traffic throughout the holiday sand this year, the departure and return dates are distributed over a longer period of time than usually. The busiest days for outward journeys are Fri, 20 Dec, Sat, 21 Dec and Mon, 23 Dec. The highest volume of return traffic is expected on Thu, 26 Dec and Fri, 27 Dec.
“Christmas holidays that fall on business days encourage people to have a longer holiday. In road traffic, this can be seen as more evenly distributed traffic peaks as people have more departure and return dates to choose from than usually. Nevertheless, it is advisable to prepare for occasional traffic jams and low average speeds when planning your drive. In addition, it’s good to make sure that you have sufficient time and space to act in case of surprising events or bad weather in traffic,” says Mika Jaatinen, Head of Unit at the ITM Finland Traffic Management Centre.
You can find Traffic Management Centre’s compiled holiday traffic forecasts with maps here. More information about driving conditions, congestion and roadworks can be found on the Traffic Management Finland website at liikennetilanne.tmfg.fi and the Liikennetilanne mobile app.
Holiday traffic on railways: Check train schedules in advance and follow the asemainfo.fi and Train Departures services
The holiday season is busy also in railway traffic. This year, the outward traffic will be distributed over several days, and many will start their journey already on Thursday, Friday or the weekend before Christmas. During the holidays, both long-distance and commuter train traffic will operate according to special timetables.
The smoothness of railway traffic may also be affected by wintery conditions, drifting loose snow, in particular. Different actors have together paid special attention to preparing for winter.
“The rail traffic control is responsible for the safety of railway traffic in all of Finland, also during the holidays. Our centres guide the traffic round the clock. Safety is always our first priority,” says Operative Director Sanna Järvenpää.
“In addition, passenger information services are produced for train passengers with the 24/7 principle. In normal and exceptional situations, information is displayed on the screens of stations and platforms as well as through separate announcements. In addition, you can find up-to-date information from the Asemainfo.fi and Junalahdot.fi services, also in mobile,” says Heidi Saarinen, Director of Finrail.
Holiday traffic in the airspace: Holiday traffic has already started
Holiday air traffic to the northernmost airports of Finland is getting busier in the coming days. Air traffic control, airports and airlines engage in close cooperation, and they are prepared for wintery weather conditions in holiday traffic, too.
Compared to last year, the number of charters flights to Lapland in December is falling behind from the amount last year, based on reservations.
“At Rovaniemi, the greatest operational volumes are experienced on the days leading up to Christmas Eve, on Sun, 22 Dec and Mon, 23 Dec. In addition, there’s plenty of traffic on Boxing Day, 26 Dec and Fri, 27 Dec. In Kittilä, the busiest holiday traffic days include Sat, 21 Dec and Sun, 22 Dec as well as Thu, 26 Dec. Also, the busiest Finnish airport, Helsinki Airport, experiences its traffic peaks on these days and will calm down for the Christmas holidays,” says ANS Finland’s Karri Hannula, Director of Area Traffic Control Centre Finland (ATCC Finland).
