Transportation

Domestic traffic

In Finnish freight traffic the volume of goods transported by lorries amounted to a total of 397 million tonnes and the transport performance of lorries was about 26.0 billion tonne-kilometres. Most of the transports are generated by construction (soils and products for the construction industry), the food cluster (agricultural products and foodstuffs) and the forest industry (wood-based raw materials and forest products).

The freight volume carried on railways was 35.8 million tonnes and the transport performance amounted to about 9.8 billion tonne-kilometres. Railway transports serve the forest, metal and chemicals industry as well as the transit traffic. The upswing of the mining industry has been noticeable in the transports. The most important types of goods are forest products and wood-based raw materials.

The transport volume of domestic waterborne traffic was 8.3 million tonnes; 4.3 million tonnes oil and 2.3 million tonnes of materials etc. for the construction of the gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. The transport performance amounted to 3.7 billion tkm, 2.2 billion tkm of which were oil and 0.8 billion tkm goods for the gas pipeline project.

The transport service level in Finland

Seen from a commercial, industrial and an international perspective, the Finnish transport system has a high service level, which has mainly developed in a positive direction. The transport chains are effective and of a high standard.

According to a recent customer survey of the Finnish economy, more than seven out of ten respondents were at least satisfied with the overall effectiveness of transports. On the other hand less than half of the respondents were satisfied with the overall service level in the road network, railway network and on the merchant shipping lanes as providers of effective and safe transports.

The cost-effectiveness of merchant shipping, which is extremely important for Finland's global competitiveness, has had an upswing. Transports on larger vessels have been enabled e.g. by the deepening of channels.  The trade and industry see the seaborne transports, ports and terminals in the harbour areas as important modes of transport and are satisfied with these.

The trade and industry consider road transports to be the most important mode of transport and are overall satisfied with these. The terminals of the road traffic are also considered satisfactory. There is some deterioration regarding the foresight and punctuality of road transports.

The cost-efficiency of railway transports has improved along with the raised axle loads as a result of the expansion and electrification of the 25-tonne network. However, in the 21st century the speed limits for trains have multiplied due to the poor condition of the railway network. The trade and industry are to some degree unsatisfied with the railway transports.