First Vectron for Fenniarail

Following a contract awarded in December 2021, Fenniarail will soon receive its first Vectron. On 28 August 2023, Fenniarail's CEO Lauri Helke and fleet manager Timo Ylitalo visited the Siemens plant in München; on the agenda was the approval of the new locomotive. This is a historic moment as it is the first electric locomotive purchased by a private railway company in Finland.

The 1,524 mm gauge Vectron is identical to the VR Class Sr3, meaning it has a top speed of 200 km/h and a power output of 6,400 kW. It is equipped with two Last Mile diesel  modules, each with a power of 180 kW. The locomotive with EVN 91 10 3103 201-2 FIN-FERFI has the operator‘s internal number 201 and is scheduled to be shipped to Finland in September and put into service the following month. This will enable Fenniarail to offer heavier trains to customers. Maintenance of the locomotive will be provided by Siemens.

Fenniarail has an option for four more locomotives, but their ordering will depend on international events, specifically the traffic between Finland and Russia due to sanctions over Russian aggression in Ukraine, as the cross-border traffic amounted to 70 % of Fenniarail sales in 2021.

Fenniarail has now 34 employees, of them 22 drivers. The company has the weekly schedule for using the Vectron as follows: Kouvola - Kemijärvi - Kotka - Kouvola and Kouvola - Pori - Kouvola. We also asked, if restrictions of the Finnish Government concerning transport to Russia are still valid. Fenniarail answered: „Some products are under sanctions but many are not. However, we have decided not to do any business related Russia since last December.“