VR-Group Plc, commonly known as VR, is a government-owned railway company in Finland. VR's most important function is the operation of Finland's passenger rail services with 250 long-distance and 800 commuter rail services every day. With 7,500 employees and net sales of €1,251 million in 2017, VR is one of the most significant operators in the Finnish public transport market area.
The Sr1 is a class of electric locomotives built for VR of Finland. These 25 kV locomotives were built in the Soviet Union at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Factory between 1973 and 1985. Two additional locomotives of this class were built at the VR Hyvinkää Machine Workshop in 1993 and 1995, number 3111 from spare parts and number 3112 from the original prototype locomotive that was never used by the VR. The official classification given by the manufacturer is VL70 or ES40.
Crichton-Vulcan is an abandoned shipyard in Turku, Finland, that once formed the cornerstone of the Finnish shipbuilding industry. The shipyard is best known for the World War II coastal defence ships and submarines it produced.
The Sr2 is a class of electric locomotives of the VR Group. They were built by SLM/ABB and later by Adtranz and finally Bombardier Transportation and assembled by Transtech Oy. They are closely based on the class Re 460 locomotives of Swiss Federal Railways.
The Sm3 Pendolino is a class of high-speed body-tilting trains operated by VR Group. It is a member of the Pendolino train family; its design is based on the ETR 460. The first two trainsets were assembled in Finland by Rautaruukki-Transtech in the mid-1990s. The rest of the series of eighteen EMUs were built by Fiat Ferroviaria between 2000 and 2006. The trains serve most of Finland's major cities such as Helsinki, Turku, Oulu and Joensuu with a maximum speed of 220 km/h (140 mph), although this speed is only attained between Kerava and Lahti. The train has a power output of 4,000 kW (5,400 hp) and weighs 328 tonnes.
The Dv12 is the standard Finnish medium-weight diesel-hydraulic road switcher operated by VR. As all the main lines of Finnish railway network have been electrificied, the locomotive is designated mostly to unelectrified, less frequently used side lines. Occasionally it may still pull cargo trains on main lines. It has also been put in service as a shunter, replacing older classes Dv15 and Dv16 as they were retired. A total of 192 locomotives were built by Lokomo and Valmet between the years 1963 and 1984. As of 2022, the oldest Dv12 units still in use are 59 years old.
The electric multiple unit Sm1 is a class of commuter train equipment that was in active use by VR from 1969–2016. Fifty Sm1 units were built between 1968 and 1973 at Valmet airplane factory in Tampere. They were put into use on the first electrified Finnish railway line between Helsinki and Kirkkonummi on January 26, 1969 with five units in operation. All Sm1s were thoroughly renovated between 1994 and 2000. Commercial service ended in April 2016.
The Sm2 is a class of electric multiple units in use by VR in commuter traffic in the Helsinki area. Fifty Sm2 units were built between 1975 and 1981 by Valmet in Tampere.
The VR Class Hr11 was the first class of line-haul diesel locomotives used by Valtionrautatiet. Only five units were built, all delivered by Valmet in 1955. The Maybach diesel engines used in the locomotives proved highly unreliable, resulting in a complete overhaul of the engine-transmission system in 1956–58, but this did not solve all of the reliability problems. The Hr11 series was withdrawn from service in 1972.
The Dm12 is a diesel railcar operated by VR Group.
The Dm6 and Dm7 were diesel multiple units built by Valmet in the 1950s and 1960s for Valtionrautatiet. They are known by their nickname lättähattu.
The Dr14 is a heavy shunting locomotive used by VR Group. Some of the locomotives can be radio controlled.
The Dm10 was an experimental diesel multiple unit built by VR Group's Pieksämäki workshop in 1994. It was based on a blue passenger carriage, Eit 23018, which was fitted with two diesel engines taken from HKL buses 601 and 608. The train had 80 no-smoking seats and had the driver selling tickets, which was unusual for Finnish conditions. During testing, it was run under the nomenclature KOEMV 9991, transporting Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari in Savonia in May 1994.
VR Class Tve2 was a VR Group diesel shunting locomotive. They were ordered from the Saalasti Oy engineering company and built between 1962 and 1964. Locomotives was sent to the Turenki sugar factory. A total of 8 units. The manufacturer's designation for the model was OTSO2 and OTSO2/VR.
VR Class Dr12 was a heavy diesel-electric locomotive of Valtionrautatiet. The first 6 locomotives were ordered in 1956. They entered service between 1959 and 1963. The locomotives were built by 2 manufacturers, Valmet and Lokomo, both based in Tampere. All Hr12 class locomotives with even numbers were produced by Valmet, while all odd numbers were produced by Lokomo. The locomotives were withdrawn in the early 1990s.
VR Class Dr13 was a heavy diesel locomotive used by VR Group. The Dr13 was designed by the French company Alstom. The class consisted of 54 locomotives, of which the first two were built by Alstom’s factory in Belfort, France and were shipped to Finland in 1962, while the rest were built in Tampere at the factories of Lokomo and Valmet. The first Dr13 series locomotive came to Finland on 24 October 1962. The Dr13 series was introduced between 1962–1963, and the last units were withdrawn by June 2000.
Tankmar Horn was a Finnish diplomat, economist, and businessman.
The Savonian railway is a 1,524 mm railway in Finland. Beginning in Kouvola, it connects southern Finland with the eastern regions of South Savo and North Savo via the cities of Pieksämäki, Kuopio and Iisalmi.
