Traficom sets September deadline for Oulu, Tampere and Turku to commit to 2031 commuter trains

Regions including Oulu, Tampere and Turku have been told to commit to trainset purchases if new commuter services are to start in 2031, YLE reports.

Procurement and competitive tendering take time, so municipalities must decide now whether they will buy trainsets — operations would be funded locally rather than by the state. Traficom has extended the original spring deadline; decisions are due by the end of September.

Pipsa Eklund, Traficom's development director, warned that political will alone won't be enough: "There can be as much will for train services as you like, but without rolling stock it is terribly difficult to arrange traffic."

Plans differ by region. In Tampere, regional leaders approved expansion options last November and are weighing weekend services on the existing M-line between Nokia, Tampere, Lempäälä and Akaa, and possible new links to Ylöjärvi, Kangasala and Orivesi. Costs vary: an hourly Ylöjärvi–Orivesi connection could cost municipalities more than one million euros a year, and building a single new stop is estimated at roughly €2–10 million, with costs split between municipalities and the state.

In Oulu, a proposed hourly Oulu–Kempele–Liminka line has divided local opinion — Kempele’s council narrowly rejected it while Liminka points to travel-time savings from 45 to about 20 minutes.

In Southwest Finland, Turku’s plan to link Salo, Turku and Uusikaupunki faces a political deadlock over a government clause that limits competitive tendering to purchased services; the Uusikaupunki line would also require track upgrades.