Competitive tendering of passenger rail transport in Finland

The Finnish government and authorities are strongly committed to promoting effective competition and market access in our rail transport sector towards the 2030s.

Fostering a competition-neutral and attractive business environment by

Tendering contracts

We will be awarding the next contracts by tenders, in line with the Regulation 1370/2007

Arranging the availability of rolling stock and depots

We are arranging the availability of rolling stock and depots in an impartial manner

Investing in infrastructure

We will invest in the Finnish railway infrastructure

Currently happening in Helsinki region tendering

Updated 29 May 2026:

Market dialogue opens for next commuter rail tender

Updated 12 June 2025:

Update on the Helsinki region commuter rail contract: Tendering will not begin in 2026. Read more here

HSL and VR have re-negotiated the current commuter rail contract.
Tendering will begin in 2028 for the commuter rail commencing on 2031.
HSL and the national PTA are preparing a cohesive strategy for the Finnish rail operations market opening. Next round of market dialogue will be expected late 2025 or early 2026.

For more information about the market dialogue, please contact Contract Manager Maiju Lintusaari (firstname.lastname [a] hsl.fi). Please find our questionnaire for potential bidders below, as well as general information about the commuter rail network and the train units in the Helsinki region.

Market dialogue summary and action points for Helsinki Region Transport Authority
Market dialogue summary and action points for Helsinki Region Transport Authority

HSL questionnaire for the potential bidders in market dialogue
HSL questionnaire for the potential bidders in market dialogue

Information about the HSL commuter rail network
Information about the HSL commuter rail network

Information about the train units in the Helsinki region
Information about the train units in the Helsinki region

Currently happening in national passenger rail tendering

Updated on 11 May 2026:

Read the latest about national rail tendering in the Traficom newsletter

Updated on 24 November 2025:

Traficom commissioned a Nordic benchmark study on PSO passenger rail services procurement practices. Read more on the Traficom website

Updated on 24 October 2025:

State-owned rolling stock company to begin operations in 2026. Read more here

Updated on 22 September 2025:

The latest edition of RARE Newsletter by Traficom has been published also in English. Read more here

Updated on 27 June 2025:

The state has set up the basis for tendering national passenger rail PSO services for the 2030s. Read more here

Updated 24 January 2025:

Traficom has published a report "Market and services for passenger rail transport in Finland in the 2030s" for use in the Finnish Government decision-making (mainly in Finnish, pdf)

Recent presentations

Below you can find the most recent presentations about the current state of the Finnish PSO rail services and future tendering plans.

Where are we now?

Current public services are organised by Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) and the Ministry of Transport and Communications in a market with nearly 250 million passengers and over 5 billion passenger-kilometres per year.

The public transport authority of the Helsinki region, HSL, has tendered its train services, and the current ten-year contract (including a three-year option) for the operation and maintenance of the trains started in 2021. The preparations for the next round of tenders will begin in the coming years.

On the national level, the state incumbent operator VR is responsible for passenger rail services via a 9-year purchase (PSO) contract with the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The contract with VR to operate these routes ends in 2030. Traffic following this period is intended to be procured through competitive tendering of several contract packages. The scope of the contracts will likely include the operation and maintenance of the trains. The details have not yet been decided, but we are now engaging with the market to ensure the model is feasible and fair for new operators. The trains will be provided by a public rolling stock company that will be set up before the procurement by tender.

What happens next?

We are continuing developing our proposals. This will include:

Engaging in structured market dialogue with interested operators, maintainers, suppliers and advisors
Finalise key policy decisions and implementing necessary sector reform and structure
Agree procurement approach and timescales

Different kinds of passenger rail services

Currently procured by tender: Train services in the Helsinki region

Planned to be procured by tender: Train services included in the purchase contract

Train services included in the purchase contract between the Ministry of Transport and Communications and VR are planned to be procured by competitive tender - currently they are procured by direct award.

These services include:

Regional trains in southern Finland (between Helsinki, Riihimäki, Tampere, Lahti, Kouvola and Kotka)
Regional trains elsewhere in Finland
InterCity services on quieter routes
Night train services between Helsinki and Lapland

Open access: Commercially viable train services

Who is responsible for the tendering?

Arranging the railway infrastructure, traffic control, depots and the rolling stock will be organised impartially, separately from the operator.

Helsinki Region Transport HSL is responsible for tendering passenger rail services in the Helsinki region. In the future, HSL may also tender urban rail transport such as the metro, light rail and trams.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications is responsible for the legislation and national transport policy. The Ministry is currently also responsible for tendering at the national level.

Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom is responsible for coordinating public transport on the national level. The agency also takes part in the preparations of competitive tendering in the future.