Finland. SEB Leasing Oy

The loan has been earmarked to finance the acquisition of 51 double-deck railway driving trailers and double-deck restaurant coaches manufactured by Transtech Oy Finland, through a leasing structure arranged in co-operation with SEB Leasing.  The rolling stock is to be leased to the Finnish state-owned railway operator VR-Yhtymä Oy (VR). The investment programme, scheduled for the period of 2013–2015, is part of the phase-out of older rolling stock.

Wholly-owned by the state, VR-Yhtymä Oy is the only commercial actor on the 5,919 kilometre Finnish railway network. Traditionally, a quarter of Finland’s goods traffic is transported via the rail network.

The modern functionalities of the new restaurant coaches, to be used on long-distance routes, imply an enhancement in service quality, safety and traveller comfort.  The new driving trailers can be used for push-pull operations without changing the locomotive. This will help expedite commuter-type operations and reduce congestion, particularly at the Helsinki railway hub. The new rolling stock will allow higher speed, thus reducing the average journey time by 10%, equalling to 30 minutes between Helsinki and Kuopio. The standardisation of the rolling stock will also improve company productivity due to economies of scale in maintenance and improvements in capacity utilisation. Moreover, developed and manufactured domestically, the new carriages are likely to have substantial reference value for the supplier.

The project is neither expected to change the annual use of energy of the train nor have a significant impact on the CO2 emissions. Older VR classes are to be phases out and sold to a recycling company after valuable parts have been collected for re-use.