Capacity Management and Traffic Planning

Capacity Management

The main task of rail capacity management is to ensure that the train services of the various railway undertakings can be carried out on the rail network, taking into account all other trains and track work.

Capacity management ensures that rail traffic can be delivered as planned. The infrastructure of the rail network, such as single-track sections and the number of passing loops, defines the constraints for the capacity that can be applied for and allocated to different sections of line. The work is carried out in close co-operation with, for example, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (FTIA), transport operators and contractors.

Fintraffic Railway Ltd. allocates urgent rail capacity to applicants and coordinates traffic in annual applications for regular services and at times of change, in accordance with the principles defined by the FTIA. Yard capacity management and track bookings will be phased in, the first being Helsinki and Ilmala yard track management in 2020.

The line capacity application guide (included in the FTIA list of guidelines) describes the general principles of the application process.

Instructions for using the systems can be found on the IT Systems page.

For general capacity management questions, please use the email address kapasiteetinhallinta(at)finrail.fi

Traffic Planning

The primary task of traffic planning is to combine the state-owned railway network’s track work and rail traffic.

Traffic planning schedules and plans time windows during which track work can be carried out, taking account of train speeds, distances between them, meetings of trains, and stops of trains in relation to traffic. The goal is to have the whole working safely, economically and appropriately and to ensure the smoothness of track work and traffic with minimised disturbance. In addition to the actual traffic planning work, traffic planners handle the power cuts of the electric track during track work.

At present, traffic planning is the responsibility of nine traffic planners in four traffic planning areas: Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu and Kouvola.

The work requires close co-operation between the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, contractors and other operators.