Night trains
The night trains are a comfortable option to travel overnight through the entire country. The night trains supply seats in their day cars and berths in their sleeping-cars. The night trains are composed of sleeping-cars, day cars, a restaurant car and possibly car-carrier wagons.
Travel north in blue or double-deck sleeping cars. The first new green sleeping cars are commissioned in summer 2010 as additional cars in night trains to Kemijärvi. At the end of the summer they are connected to night trains P 266 and P 273 running between Helsinki and Rovaniemi. Several small improvements have been made to the new sleeping cars to increase passenger travel comfort.
Most night trains travelling between major cities have car-carrying wagons, as well. The car is loaded in the wagon in the evening and unloaded immediately upon arrival the following morning. The car-carrier routes are indicated in red in the below route map.
Night train onboard services
| Blue night trains | Night trains with double-deck cars (P 265 and P 274) |
|---|---|
Sleeping cars
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Sleeping cars
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View the location of Night train onboard services in the diagram below. Click on a car to view the a description of the amenities in the Passenger car album.
Read more on the new double-deck sleeping cars! »
The night train
Sleeping-cars
VR operates double-deck sleeping cars and older blue sleeping cars. The first double-deck sleeping cars entered service in February 2006. Additional double-deck cars are commissioned during the summer of 2010.
The new sleeping-car has a total of 19 air-conditioned double compartments on three levels. One compartment is specially designed for physically disabled passengers.
One sleeping-car has 19 sleeping compartments and 38 berths. There are 8 compartments on the upper deck (16 berths), with ensuite toilet and shower. The compartments of the lower and middle decks have a total of 11 compartments with 22 berths.
The blue sleeping cars have 11 sleeping compartments for 1-3 persons and one two person compartment. There are a total of 35 berths.
Car-carrying wagons
There are different car-carrying wagons travelling on the network. The new double-deck car-carrying wagons run from Helsinki to Oulu, Rovaniemi and Kolari and on the Tampere-Turku route.
The new double-deck car-carrying wagons are covered, while the older ones are open wagons. The capacity of the new wagons is twelve cars. The lower level of the car has been raised so as to admit higher cars (184 cm) than the older wagon. The upper level has spaces for six max. 204 cm high private cars or delivery vans. The car-carrying wagons also accept motorcycles and snowmobiles for transportation.
Route plans
Double-deck sleeping cars are operated in night trains P 265 and P 274 between Helsinki and Kemijärvi. Four new double-deck sleeping cars enter service during the summer of 2010 and are operated in night trains P 266 and P 273 between Helsinki and Rovaniemi. The 16 remaining new cars enter service in stages by the summer of 2011.
VR also operates older blue sleeping-cars along with the new double-deck cars on night trains to Lapland. Check trains with sleeping-cars in VR Journey Search »
VR operates car-carrier trains on the following lines:
- Helsinki-Rovaniemi-Helsinki
- Helsinki-Kolari-Helsinki
- Helsinki-Oulu-Helsinki
- Helsinki-Kemijärvi-Helsinki
- Tampere-Rovaniemi-Tampere
- Tampere-Kolari-Tampere
- Turku-Rovaniemi-Turku
- Turku-Kolari-Turku
Car-carrier train timetables. »
Fares
The night trains have both day-car seats and sleeping-car berths. An express train ticket, including seat booking, is needed for travel in a day car.
For travelling in a sleeping-car of a night train, a travel ticket (at the price of a regional train ticket) and berth ticket are needed. A 2nd class ticket entitles to the purchase of a berth ticket in a double or triple compartment (the new sleeping-cars only have double compartments). A 1st class ticket is needed for travel in a single compartment. For berth prices, please view Tickets ».
VR offers inexpensive car packages for those travelling with a car. Read more on the CarTrain package page ».
A comfortable overnight journey
VR double-deck sleeping cars take you comfortably overnight to destinations in the north or south. The cars have a wide range of amenities for all passenger groups. For more information on the sleeping cars see the 360˚ view!