Intermodal

Helsinki → Klaipėda

FIHEL · LTKLJ · 1,050 km

Operated by VR Transpoint

Starter rate
USD 1,125–USD 1,875
per 40-ft equivalent

Transit

Scheduled
3 d
Departures
4/wk
Average wait
0.9 d
Door-ready
3.9 d

Door-ready adds half the gap between departures — the average wait if your cargo becomes ready at a random moment. On a 4-a-week service that is 0.9 days, and it is the figure a road-versus-rail comparison usually leaves out.

Legs and handovers

A single through leg — no gauge break and no operator handover en route.

  1. 1
    Helsinki Vuosaari → Klaipėda Port Rail
    VR Transpoint · Broad (1520 mm) · 1,050 km · 3 d

Track gauge and borders

The spacing between the rails — whether the wheels can run through, or the load has to change trains.

Countries crossed
FI → LT
Gauge changes
None — through running
Origin gauge
Broad (1520 mm)
Destination gauge
Broad (1520 mm) + Standard (1435 mm)

Loading gauge clearance

The height and width of tunnels and bridges — whether the load fits through. A different constraint from track gauge above: this corridor can have no gauge break at all and still refuse a high-cube container.

Governing profile GOST 1-T · 5300 mm

Set by FI, the narrowest network on the route. One restrictive tunnel anywhere caps the whole journey regardless of how generous the rest is. Substantially larger than anything in western Europe — the 1520 mm network was built to a bigger envelope. Height is rarely the binding constraint on a Silk Road corridor; the track-gauge break is.

FI · 1-T LT · 1-T
40ft standard (8'6") on a container flat
Clears +1554 mm
High-cube (9'6") on a container flat
Clears +1249 mm
Swap body on a container flat
Clears +1475 mm
P400 semi-trailer on a pocket wagon
Clears +1030 mm

Profiles are the published maxima for each network's core freight routes. Individual lines differ in both directions, so a load within 50 mm of the limit needs the operator to confirm the specific path. Compare wagon deck heights →

Emissions

−81% 12 vs 62 gCO₂ per tonne-km

GLEC v3 planning estimate — not a regulatory declaration. Model your own payload with the transit calculator.

A rare all-broad-gauge intra-EU relation: no gauge change needed between Finland and the Baltic ports.