Train traffic “The drop was drastic” – Even VR’s new CEO does not believe in a rapid recovery in train tourism

First Important information: VR’s long-distance train ticket prices do not rise immediately.

“Prices are not rising. We see no reason to increase them, ”says VR’s new CEO Lauri Sipponen, 52, which took over the management of VR Group in August.

“We will continue to sell cheap tickets for quiet departures so that those who can choose would take a cheaper train and free up space for congested trains.”

The former Lidl’s Finnish director has a company to run, which went really well back in 2019. Now the company is faced with a big question: how many Finns will return to its customers sometime when Korona is completely over?

“It simply came to our notice then. Last year, there were 90 percent fewer passengers, and this year another 25 percent. The situation has been distributed so that leisure movement has almost recovered but commuting has not, ”says Sipponen. Recent information on coronavirus omicron transformation does not alleviate the situation.

So the trains are full or close to it on the weekends, but the week is empty, because people still work from home and do not go to work, for example, with customers as before. VR’s fear is that people will have a way of using their own car for these trips.

At VR there are a few big trends on the side of the post-crown period like environmental awareness. There is little more sustainable way to travel than by train.

Also, the increased opportunity and desire to work remotely, for example in a natural setting, brings more passengers to the tracks. The popularity of domestic tourism will do the same, if it continues.

“We also have a big opportunity that people now want to live more spaciously outside the centers, but the jobs are still in the cities,” says Sipponen.

He still does not believe in the rapid return of passengers but hopes that new customer groups will be found through such large developments.

On the stock side, VR has no big news on offer. The IC and Pendolino equipment will remain a familiar sight on the tracks for decades to come. For the time being, the classic northern night train, the blue sleeping car, will also remain in use. They are still needed to balance demand, especially during the winter holiday weeks, although they are impractical and far from accessible.

Sipponen is also allowed to answer the question of eternity, which is related to high seasons such as Christmas. Why do trains always fill up months before them? Why can’t there be more wagons?

“We can’t just keep the equipment waiting for prime days. They cannot be unused 360 days a year and then used five days a year. We need to find the optimal solution. ”

One however, he has interesting fleet information: VR plans to acquire more car carriers, which will be of interest to all car passengers in northern trains. However, Sipponen describes them as “hellishly valuable”. The price of one is between half a million and a million.

In recent years, tourism has highlighted experiences and higher-quality options. Before Korona, the winter in Lapland was filled with wealthy tourists who wanted to pay several hundred for a night in a glass-roofed northern lights cottage. Could VR have something to offer them?

It is easy for Sipponen to get involved in a brainstorming session where VR would have its own glass-roofed luxury car, as is the case on the scenic routes of train companies in many countries. For high-paying tourists could be taken to the northern starry sky and under the northern lights – or the midnight sun – and, of course, the wagons would have their own name.

“We don’t have a project like that, but the issue has sometimes been on the table in coffee table discussions. It has also been considered whether there could be a higher-quality restaurant offer on the trains, such as table service and white tablecloths, ”he says.

“But the problem with luxury wagons is that demand would be quite low. Getting such a solvent crowd on the train would not be the easiest thing to do. I should sell a lot of tickets for 500 euros. ”

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“We have a big chance that people now want to live more loosely outside the centers but jobs are still in the cities.”

But back to the daily life of train travel. For example, he recognizes the criticism that trains don’t fit enough on bicycles and says more places need to be done. They are also needed today because of electric kickboards.

“For some wagons, bike spaces have already been added and that is a well-known need. This challenge, too, is a question of equipment. The need for them is seasonal, and during the dark winter months, there are very few bikes exported. ”

Another common topic of astonishment is ticket prices when the whole nation is heading to Christmas or Lapland at the same time. The family will probably drive north in their own car cheaper than traveling by train.

According to him, prices are on the right track if you look at the train occupancy rate, which is then one hundred percent or close to it.

“Gasoline will definitely be cheaper. But what does it cost to first sleep well at night, eat comfortably, and socialize in spacious spaces? So what are you willing to pay for? We don’t get complaints about it. ”

He is positive about the Turku and Tampere hour trains, but believes that the current lines need to be repaired first.

They have a repair debt of three billion, he said. It brings a kind of bottlenecks to the tracks that are slowing down the current travel speeds. Thus, in his opinion, large projects must not hinder the maintenance of the condition of the tracks.

“Now the bottlenecks have to be opened first. High-speed trains will then gradually make themselves necessary between major cities and pay for themselves. ”