VR, the Finnish national railway company, will be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2012. The official day of celebration is 17 March, when a new scheduled rail service between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna began operating in 1862. Trains were a relatively new innovation and went on to change public perceptions of time and distance in this sparsely populated country.

By the time of Finnish independence in 1917, VR had become a key service provider, playing active role in the Finnish economy, social structure and culture. Post-independence, steam engines were replaced by diesel engines and later by fully electric trains. The numbers of passengers and volume of goods has continued to rise steadily throughout the decades.

Today, VR is an environmentally-conscious, forward-looking and versatile transport company and continues to make a significant contribution to life in Finland.

VR will be marking the anniversary on the job, sharing the occasion with passengers and partners alike. Throughout the year, passengers will be invited to make use of a number of special offers and discounts and to attend a programme of events across our stations.

Join us in celebrating 150 years of rail traffic!

For further information on Finnish railways past & present and the anniversary year events programme, please visit our dedicated website at www.vr150.fi (in Finnish only).