Finnish Trains Go Smokeless  

Source from:  YLE24 (fi)  05/06/2013

Finland is the last Nordic country to ban smoking on the rails.

The Finnish state rail company VR has decided to ban smoking on all trains as of June 3. Lighting up is already forbidden on all commuter and most long-haul trains. 

VR says the move is aimed improving customer comfort and safety, and was driven by passenger feedback.

"This is based on customers' wishes," says VR's director of long-distance service, Ari Vanhanen. He says that the decision was also motivated by environmental concerns and strict compliance with tobacco laws.

Plenty of time for a puff

Vanhanen notes that long-distance trains make long enough stops at main stations for die-hard smokers to have a puff on the platforms.

Some seven out of 10 long-haul trains are already smoke-free. A month from now, that will be expanded to cover all 300 daily departures.

As of now, smoking is not allowed on local or regional trains, nor on InterCity IC2 trains or the Allegro trains that go back and forth between Helsinki and St Petersburg, Russia.

Of the other Nordic countries, Denmark, Norway and Sweden already have total bans on smoking on trains. The fifth, Iceland, does not have any public rail service. Enditem