People are heartily fed up with poor quality of Helsinki’s commuter train service

Fewer than 10% of passengers consider Greater Helsinki Area’s commuter train traffic fast and efficient

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By Juha Salonen
     
      Ouch! A recent survey carried out makes for very grim reading if you happen to be associated with the capital area's commuter rail traffic.
      Fewer than ten per cent of the commuter train passengers in the Greater Helsinki area regard the speed and ease of travel as "good". This was among the findings of a Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) assay that looked into the situation after the summer.
     
In the past couple of years, the extremely snowy winters have complicated the state-owned railway company VR’s commuter train traffic.
      The snowy conditions have had a detrimental effect on the condition of both the tracks and the trains.
      But now that the commuter trains do not seem to be able to run according to schedule even in the relative warmth and tranquility of the summer, the hard-pressed passengers seem to have finally run out of patience altogether.
     
HSL first looked into its commuter train passenger satisfaction in January-May of this year.
      Even then the figures were far from flattering. According to the HSL survey, only 17 per cent of the passengers considered the commuter trains’ speed and ease of travel good or very good.
      The summer saw even this dismal figure being halved. What makes matters even more painful is that if one looks at the other forms of transport on offer, the buses, trams, and Metro service all score high-to-stellar approval ratings.
     
The collapse during the summer months can be contributed to VR’s staff concerns and various technical problems.
      VR spokesman Otto Lehtipuu is taken aback by the situation. “This confirms the notion that we have had as well. We have to find new ways to improve the flow of traffic.”
      Quick fixes would include for example the standardisation of train frames and making the confined Helsinki railway yard (the access in to Helsinki's main railway station) less prone to disruptions through applying changes to the timetable.
      Lehtipuu would also speed up the introduction of new trains. “The old SM 1 and SM 2 –type trains have become unreliable after two hard winters. We would gladly bring forward their retirement, but the decisions are made at Pääkaupunkiseudun Junakalusto Oy, the company responsible for the procurement and leasing of the new rolling stock needed in the traffic in the Helsinki region.”
      VR Group President and CEO Mikael Aro promises that there will be improvements to punctuality this winter.
     
HSL managing director Suvi Rihtniemi finds the passengers’ comments worrying.
      In her opinion “rectifying measures” are needed.
      “Rail traffic forms the basis of the public transportation system in the capital area. Other forms of transportation merely complement it.”
      Rihtniemi and Lehtipuu agree that the public transportation passenger figures have grown in the area this year.
     
     
Factfile: Commuter trains included in a customer satisfaction survey for the first time
      HSL measured the capital area public transportation passenger satisfaction in January-May 2011.
      More than 23,000 respondents took part in the study.
      The VR commuter trains were included in the study for the first time.
      Eighty-two per cent of the passengers regarded the HSL public transportation as either good or very good (grades 4 and 5).
      The average grade was 3.95 on a scale from 1 to 5.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 30.9.2011

More on this subject:
 NOTES: VR has managed to fix its ticketing problems

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Train delays take 11 days of commuter´s life during 20 years (24.11.2009)
  Rail ticket woes continue (20.9.2011)
  Snow causing transport delays again (8.2.2011)

See also:
  Commuter trains continue to run reduced services, as commuters´ patience wears thin (23.2.2010)
  Brief thaw could get Finnish rail operations out of a fix (22.2.2010)

Links:
  VR, Finnish Railways
  Helsinki Region Transport, HSL

JUHA SALONEN / Helsingin Sanomat
juha.salonen@hs.fi