VR Group’s net turnover increased in the second quarter of 2012, with growth particularly in passenger services and infrastructure engineering. The Group’s net result was slightly down on the previous year. The net result was weakened by the rise in personnel and rolling stock costs.

“The net result reflects the investments we have made in improving punctuality. The new ticket system for passenger services and the changes in the production structure for logistics place the Group in a stronger position to respond to competition,” states President and CEO Mikael Aro.

Growth in passenger services and improvement in punctuality

Major efforts have been made at Passenger Services to improve the punctuality of rail services, and there has been a significant improvement from last year. During the first half of the year 85.6% (70.7%) of long-distance trains and 93.2% (89.0%) of commuter trains arrived at their destinations on time. In long-distance services a train is counted as late if it arrives five minutes or more after the scheduled time; for commuter trains the limit is three minutes.

Altogether 22.2 (21.6) million journeys were made during the second quarter in Passenger Services, an increase of 2.8%. Rail services to and from Russia and road services recorded the biggest growth.

(Source: VR)