Finland plans to extend service life of Russian railcars until 2028

STOCKHOLM, October 3. /TASS/. The Finnish authorities are considering extending until 2028 the service life of Russian-made freight railcars that remained in the country after 2022, Finnish broadcaster Yle has reported.

According to the report, up to 1,000 railcars - used primarily in the forestry industry - will have to be decommissioned in Finland because they do not meet European Union standards. Initially, it was expected that the cars would be retired by the end of 2026. However, due to the slow pace of replacing equipment with EU-standard models, the government is now considering keeping them in operation for another two years.

The broadcaster explained that the EU requirement to replace the railcars is linked to Finland’s use of a railway gauge width close to Russian standards - 1,524 mm, while the EU-approved gauge is 1,435 mm.

The Russian railcars were retained in Finland in 2022 after imports of timber and chemicals from Russia to the country ceased under European Union sanctions.