VR-Yhtymä Oy , or VR Group, is a Finnish state-owned logistics group that operates passenger and freight services on Finnish railways and roads . VR had a contractual monopoly on long-distance passenger transport by rail, which ended on 1 January 2021. Railway passenger traffic in Finland was fully opened to competition on 1 January 2021 with the Open Access model, where operators can compete on the same sections of line on market terms with their own rolling stock. 

Group Structure 

VR Group’s business can be divided into the following functions: 

• Passenger traffic includes VR’s long-distance and commuter train services , Pohjolan Liikenne’s bus traffic and Avecra, which is responsible for long-distance restaurant services .
• VR Transpoint transports raw materials and products from the forest, metal, chemical and construction industries, both by rail and road.
• VR FleetCare offers rolling stock maintenance and lifecycle services as well as expert services related to rolling stock technology.
• The real estate unit leases and develops business premises owned by the company.
• The Train Traffic Division is responsible for driving locomotives for both passenger traffic and VR Transpoint. Train traffic is also responsible for the operation of the operations center that controls train traffic.
• Group services include HR , legal affairs, finance and economics, IT and communications. 

In total, VR Group has 28 companies and eight associated companies. At the beginning of 2015, traffic control services were separated into a company called Finrail (from the beginning of 2021, the state traffic control company Fintraffic), which is not part of the VR Group. 

VR Group is defined as an operator or railway undertaking, while the Finnish Rail Agency is the operator of the railway network and is responsible for its maintenance. After other operators have been able to operate on the rail network, the separate roles of the Finnish Rail Agency and VR Group have become even more visible.