VR has completed its internal negotiations concerning major staffing changes and confirmed on Monday that conductor roles on HSL-area commuter trains will be phased out by early summer 2026. In their place security guards will be deployed due to a rise in disruptive incidents on trains.
Published: 09/06/25 | 15:37
Currently, around 150 conductors work on VR’s commuter train services. Of these up to 130 may face layoffs during the spring of 2026 though some will have the option to retrain as security personnel.
The changes apply only to HSL-operated local trains. Conductors will continue to serve on commuter routes beyond the HSL area such as the R and Z lines.
The driving factor behind this decision is the growing number of disturbances occurring on commuter trains. In 2023, the number of security staff supporting conductors rose by 45% compared to the previous year.
“The goal of the new service model is to restore commuter train safety to an excellent standard,” explained Anu Punola who is Director of Commuter Services at VR.
Punola emphasized that the conductor’s role has increasingly involved maintaining public order rather than focusing on customer service. She added that many passenger inquiries previously handled by conductors are now addressed through digital tools such as the HSL journey planner app.
After the transition, conductors’ customer service duties will not be handed over to the incoming security guards and they will be eliminated entirely. Ticket inspections on HSL commuter trains will be carried out solely by HSL’s own inspectors moving forward.
As part of a transition support package VR is offering training opportunities to conductors affected by the layoffs. This training would prepare them to become certified general security guards though details and timelines for the program are still being finalized.
VR has emphasized that the decision to replace conductors with security guards is not driven by a desire to cut costs but is intended to remain financially neutral.
“In the past, HSL contracted us to provide conductors for their commuter trains. In the future they will contract us to supply security guards instead,” Punola clarified.
To facilitate this change VR will hold a competitive bidding process among security firms. The winning company will take over supervision duties on HSL-area commuter trains.
In May, conductors represented by the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors (JHL) staged a strike to protest the changes. JHL argued that the switch was an example of “employment condition shopping,” pointing out that security staff typically work under more favorable contracts than conductors. The union’s chair Håkan Ekström criticized the employer’s approach to restructuring.
VR currently holds the contract to operate commuter train services in the HSL region until at least 2031 having won the tender in 2020 for a ten-year term.
