Finland railway staff to get Swedish phrasebook

Swedish speakers may soon be able to communicate more easily with railway staff. (Mari Siltanen / Yle )
Swedish speakers may soon be able to communicate more easily with railway staff. (Mari Siltanen / Yle )

Finland’s state railways VR is to distribute a Swedish phrasebook to its staff. They have been criticised for sometimes failing to offer service in Finland’s second official language.

State-owned firms such as VR should be able to serve customers in either of Finland’s two official languages, Finnish or Swedish. Service in Swedish is sometimes patchy, however, with Swedish-speakers often having to speak Finnish to ensure they are understood.

Now VR and the Swedish Assembly of Finland have combined to produce a lexicon of terms staff might need when dealing with Swedish-speaking travelers.

It is divided into sections, including “on the train”, “at the station” and “customers’ questions”, and includes days, months, explanations of surcharges on ticket sales and every station’s name in Swedish.

Yle News

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