Statistics Finland

Information and Statistical Services

FI-00022 Statistics Finland

Mandatory data collection at EU level is based on legal act, the Regulation EU 2018/643 and covers goods and passengers.
Data is collected as following:

• Annex I (annual data) –goods transport ,
• Annex II (annual data)–passenger transport,
• Annex III – (quarterly data) goods and passengers,
• Annex IV and V( data every five years) regional statistics on goods and passengers and rail network and
• Annex VIII (annual data) goods and passengers transport for small undertakings.

Goods transported by rail are classified according to the 20 divisions of goods following the 'Standard Goods Classification for Transport Statistics 2007’ with effect from reference year 2008.

The codes of regions used in the region-to-region statistics are indicated in Regulation (EC) 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Railway undertakings providing transport of passengers or goods.

The main concepts used in rail domain are:

Rail passenger means any person, excluding members of the train crew, who makes a trip by rail. For accident statistics, passengers trying to embark/disembark onto/from a moving train are included.
Passenger-km means the unit of measure representing the transport of one passenger by rail over a distance of one kilometer. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.
Weight means the quantity of goods in tonnestones (1 000 kilograms). The weight to be taken into consideration includes, in addition to the weight of the goods transported, the weight of packaging and the tare weight of containers, swap bodies, pallets as well as road vehicles transported by rail in the course of combined transport operations. If the goods are transported using the services of more than one railway undertaking, when possible the weight of goods shall not be counted more than once.
Tonne-km means the unit of measure of goods transport which represents the transport of one tonne (1 000 kilograms) of goods by rail over a distance of one kilometer. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.
Train means one or more railway vehicles hauled by one or more locomotives or railcars, or one railcar travelling alone, running under a given number or specific designation from an initial fixed point to a terminal fixed point. A light engine, that is to say, a locomotive travelling on its own, is not considered to be a train.
Train-km means the unit of measure representing the movement of a train over one kilometre. The distance used is the distance actually run, if available, otherwise the standard network distance between the origin and destination shall be used. Only the distance on the national territory of the reporting country shall be taken into account.

Statistical units for rail transport statistics are all railway stations.

Data on passenger and freight transport are collected from the railway undertakings operating at national territory within thresholds mentioned in the rail regulation.
Data on traffic are collected from infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.

Operational railway network on national territory.

Data on passengers and goods are covered from 2004 onwards.

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The volume and performance of rail freight traffic are measured in tonnes (mass) and tonne-kilometres. Passenger transport by rail is measured in the number of passengers and in passenger-kilometres. Information on the number of train kilometres is also available.
Traffic flows on the rail network are measured in number of trains - passenger, freight and others (optional)

The tables consist mostly of annual data. There are some tables providing quarterly and quinquennial (every five years) data.

According to the Rail regulation (EU) 2018/643 data is collected as following: Annual data
– Annex I –goods transport collected for a reference period of one year with a deadline for data transmission as 5 months after the reference periodreference period,
– Annex II –passenger transport, yearly data with eight months deadline after the end of reference period
– Annex III – quarterly data for goods and passengers with a deadline of three months after the end of the reference period,
– Annex IV and V data every five years on regional statistics on goods and passengers and rail network with deadline of 12 respectively 18 months after the end of reference period and
– Annex VIII goods and passengers transport for small undertakings with 5 respectively 8 months deadline after the end of reference period.

With the effect from 2016, Regulation 2032/2016 has been replaced the Regulation 91/2003. From  2018, the legal basis for rail transport statistics, is the Regulation 643/2018.(recast)

With effect from the beginning of 2003, Directive 80/1177/EC has been replaced by Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on rail transport statistics".

Regulation 91/2003 was amended by "Commission Regulation (EC) No 1192/2003 of 3 July 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on rail transport statistics", which gives common definitions for the terms used in the basic act and modifies slightly the Annex related to accident statistics.

In Finland compilation of statistics is regulated by the Statistics Act (280/2004).

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In Finland compilation of statistics is regulated by the Statistics Act (280/2004).

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

If the data are declared confidential it is not disseminated.

Statistics Finland's release calendar lists in advance all the statistical data and publications to be released over the
year. Statistical releases can be found under statistics-specific releases. Statistical data are released on the Internet
at 8 am, unless otherwise indicated. The calendar is updated on weekdays. Statistics Finland's release calendar for the coming year is published every year in December.

Release calendar in English can be accessed on Statistics Finland's Website.

Annual and quarterly railway statistics is released according to release calendar on the website of Statistics Finland. Data are released to all users at the same time.

Annually. Regarding passenger and freight traffic, data are also published quarterly.

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Statistics Finland's database tables on railway statistics

http://stat.fi/til/rtie/tau_en.html

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Internet adress: http://stat.fi/til/rtie/index_en.html

Documentation on methodology is available on the homepage of the statistics on railways.

Quality reports (in Finnish) are available on the homepage of the statistics on railways.

When compiling statistics, Statistics Finland observes the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP) and the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) based on them.

The Code of Practice concerns the independence and accountability of statistical authorities and the quality of processes and data to be published. The principles are in line with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics approved by the United Nations Statistics Division and are supplementary to them. The principles are also compatible with those of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

Principles of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM)

The principles of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) are employed by Statistics Finland as its the overall framework for quality management. The EFQM model is applied as a self-assessment and development tool for Statistics Finland's management and strategic guidance, for instance.

Railways statistics covers Finland's railways transport comprehensive, because railway transport is closed system.

 The basic users of rail statistics are:

• universities/research institutes
• consultants
• international and governmental bodies
• railway undertakings
• National Statistical Institutes
• press and private users

Railway data users are mostly interested in:

• passenger and freight transport data
• network traffic

Rail statistics are mostly used for:

• trend analysis
• forecasting
• modeling
• market research

User satisfaction is followed with the feedback from the data users. Customer satisfaction is followed with yearly
customer satisfaction survey.

Railway data collected within the scope of the legal acts are complete.

Railways statistics covers Finland's railways transport comprehensive, because railway transport is closed system.

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The railway statistics are published annually by the end of August and they contain the final annual data concerning the previous year. Passenger and freight traffic performance is also published quarterly around three months from the end of the statistical reference quarter.

Data is published according to release calendar.

Data is geographically comparable in Finland's railway network. 

Basic information is comparable over time. There has been some changes for classifications over time.

There is no other regular railway statistics in Finland. Railway operators may release transport statistics based on their own business.

The data is internally coherent.

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Statistics is final.

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Data concerning the track are obtained from the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency’s track databases. The data are updated every year to reflect the changes brought by maintenance work and investments in the rail network. Data concerning rail traffic and rolling stock are for the most part obtained from the operators’ continually updated statistical databases, which number several dozen. Part of the data is connected to monitoring of sales and part to separate registers.

Data is collected mainly annualy. Data on transport of goods and passenger is collected also quarterly.

Data concerning the track are obtained from the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency’s track databases. The data are updated every year to reflect the changes brought by maintenance work and investments in the rail network. Data concerning rail traffic and rolling stock are for the most part obtained from the operators’ continually updated statistical databases, which number several dozen. Part of the data is connected to monitoring of sales and part to separate registers.

Experts validate data before publishing.

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