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Operail obtained a license in May to operate rail transport services on the Finnish railway infrastructure. The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom has approved the safety management system of Operail Finland Oy, a company of Operail Group.

"The issuing of the operating license and the certification of our safety management system are important milestones for us, and confirm that the quality of the service we'll be providing meets the highest standards required in Finland," Paul Lukka, member of the management board of Operail, said.

Lukka said that the company’s Finnish team has been joined by leading railway industry specialists and that locomotive drivers have been hired.

"Which means that as soon as the new locomotives are certified, we'll be ready to start serving our clients," he said.

Operail will be providing its freight transport service on the Finnish market using nine Wabtec PowerHaul locomotives.

"The PowerHaul locomotives are heavy haul, six-axle locomotives that provide high efficiency and reliability you need for heavy freight train transport," Lukka said. The first two PowerHaul locomotives, which meet all European railway requirements and standards, have already arrived in Finland. At present, the locomotives are undergoing testing and certification.

"We're hoping to start transporting freight in autumn," Lukka said.

Operail is an Estonian state-owned railway company whose main areas of operation are freight transport, the construction and repairing of locomotives and railway carriages and the rental of rolling stock. The company employs almost 650 people. In addition to the parent company AS Operail, the Operail group includes the carriage rental companies AS Operail Leasing and Operail Leasing Finland Oy and the Finnish railway transport company Operail Finland Oy.