State Railways VR reported its best-ever results on Thursday. The company says the number of passenger journeys rose last year by 7.6 percent, with a total of 126.9 million journeys made. Freight volume was also up, by 5.8 percent.
The firm notes that train travel's market share expanded compared to other forms of transport. It attributes this to its price reductions, expanded offerings and faster travel on key routes.
Group net sales increased by 5.5 percent to just over 1.25 million euros, with operating profit more than doubling to slightly over 110 million euros.
Last year VR drew criticism for ending ticket sales on local trains as well as a drivers' strike in protest against plans to introduce competition on the railways.