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Winter Puts the Freeze on Rail Traffic

Protracted extreme cold continued to disrupt rail services in Finland Friday. On Thursday the National Railway VR was forced to cancel services between Jyväskylä and Pieksämäki due to a broken track.

Lähiliikenteen juna lumipyryssä.
Image: YLE

Commuters were instead accommodated by bus while some trains experienced delays from 30 minutes to an hour Thursday night and Friday morning. VR hopes to repair the track today.

Rail traffic controllers said that half of overnight trains ran late on Thursday. The 07.30 Intercity train from Helsinki to Oulu was 75 minutes late because of engine trouble.

Local rail traffic in the capital city area has also suffered minor delays because of the frosty conditions. Just half of all trains in service across the country were on time Thursday, while some trains ran up to two hours late in the evening.

Meanwhile a fire on Thursday caused officials to remove one track from service on the line between Kouvola and Lappeenranta. The fire broke out in load of lumber on a freight train and destroyed two carriages. Rail traffic controllers say the situation should not affect traffic on the line, because the affected section of track is so short.

Officials say that rail traffic should slow down after 2.00 pm Friday.

Sources: YLE