Page 52 - Port of Kokkola Handbook & Directory

RAIL SERVICESSetting common goals leads to successThe Port of Kokkola has become Finland’s largest railway bulk cargo hub and transit traffic port, according to VR Transpoint Oy Ab, the Finnish freight logistics company owned by the VR GVroup (Finnish Railways).R Transpoint operates significant numbers of freight train sets in and out ofoutside terminals in Kokkola’s three harbours. Additional rail lines will be installed in the port during the next three years.from outside the Kokkola region. Thanks to Kokkola’s closeKokkola each day on both domestic and international routes. The rail service carries a wide variety of dry bulk products into and out of the port, including iron pellets, locally produced chemicals, sawn timber and coal.The first of 80 new eight Sr3 electric locomotives for heavy freight and fast passenger services are now coming into operation. The new trains are currently being operated as diversely as possible carrying both freight and passengers to gather experience so any possible technical additions can be taken into consideration before being put into wider use in the summer of 2018.Finland’s main north-south railway line runs through the City of Kokkola and the port is connected to the main line 5 km away. Twelve kilometres of railway lines running directly into the port are electrified and lead to yardsThe principal flow of goods to and from Kokkola is rail-based. Altogether, 60% of the port’s total cargo volumes were transported by rail in 2017 and over 95% of shipments originatedTests have already taken place in the Kokkola area although final decisions about how they might be used at the port have yet to be made.50Martti Koskinen, Senior VicePORT OF KOKKOLA HANDBOOK & DIRECTORYThe main railway line has connections to the middle part of Finland and onwards to the Russian border. The Finnish and the Russian railways share the same 1524 mm rail gauge which provides industries in the middle part of Finland as well as Russian customers with opportunities to use the port of Kokkola. The rail service also connects Kokkola to the Murmansk area in the extreme northwest of Russia, the Kola Peninsula inside the Arctic Circle and further on to the Komi Republic’s major oil processing, timber, woodworking, natural gas and electric power industries. Rail freight connections to other parts of Russia are also competitively priced.association with other transport and logistics companies at the port, cargo traffic by rail is exceptionally high even by Finnish standards.VR Transpoint operates 4-axle cargo wagons in and out of the port, including Russian open box wagons, Finnish tank and hopper wagons and bulk container wagons. The axle load is currently 22.5 tons.