International passenger transport permits and books of journey forms

Permits and journey forms for passenger traffic

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom issues permits for international scheduled services between Finland and a non-EU/-EEA country (such as Finland–Russia) and permits for scheduled services within the EU and EEA.

If you operate within the EU and run occasional international services, occasional services in the form of cabotage or regular special services in the form of cabotage by bus and coach, you will need both a Community licence and an EU book of journey forms.

If you run occasional bus or coach services between Finland and Russia or Finland and Ukraine, you will need a Community licence and a permit for occasional passenger traffic. The exceptions to this permit are described below.

If you run occasional bus or coach services between Finland and countries outside the European Union that have signed the Interbus Agreement, you will need a Community licence and an Interbus book of journey forms.

You may also apply to Traficom for a certificate for own-account passenger traffic between Member States (e.g. if a sports club owns a coach and uses it to travel to European matches). You will not need a Community licence in addition to the certificate. The certificate is valid for a maximum of five years.

EU book of journey forms

An EU book of journey forms permits you to operate occasional international services, occasional services in the form of cabotage or regular special services in the form of cabotage by bus or coach between Member States.

The booklet contains journey forms for 25 journeys. It is sufficient to have a valid journey form on board the vehicle during the journey. The journey form is valid for the entire journey including transits.

• If the journey is an occasional service in the form of cabotage (as per Section 5 of the booklet), the transport operator must send copies of the journey forms to Traficom.
• If the journeys are regular special services in the form of cabotage (as per Section 5 of the booklet), a monthly summary of the journey forms must be sent to Traficom.

An EU book of journey forms is valid until all the journey forms it contains have been used, or if amendments to Regulation 1073/2009 are made such that the amendments require updating of the document.

Interbus book of journey forms

An Interbus book of journey forms is intended for international road passenger operations by bus and coach, as either occasional services or cabotage in accordance with the Interbus Agreement. The booklet contains journey forms for 25 journeys. It is sufficient to have a valid journey form on board the vehicle during the journey. The journey form is valid for the entire journey including transits.

The countries that are party to the Interbus Agreement are the EU member states and Albania, Andorra, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the United Kingdom, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

An Interbus book of journey forms is valid until all the journey forms it contains have been used, or if amendments to the Interbus Agreement are made such that the amendments require updating of the document.

Permit for occasional passenger traffic for Russia and Ukraine

According to the agreements on international road transport between Finland and Russia and Finland and Ukraine, you will need a permit to operate occasional passenger services when you pick up passengers in an empty bus/coach in Russia or Ukraine, or if there are any changes to the passengers carried during the journey.

A permit is not required when a group of people is taken to another contracting state on the condition that the bus or coach returns empty to Finland or that the same group of people is transported for the entire journey.

The permit is issued for a single journey, but is valid for a calendar year and 1 month of the following year.  The permit is also valid for transits.

Scheduled service permit between Finland and a non-EU/-EEA country

This permit enables a carrier to operate international scheduled services between Finland and a non-EU/-EEA country, as long as it also has a Community licence issued by a competent authority. The permit does not give the right to operate cabotage services.

The permit is issued jointly with another contracting country. Traficom issues permits for Finland.

A schedule is appended to the permit which shows all the stops where passengers are picked up or set down as well as the route map.

The permit is valid for up to five years.

Scheduled service permit within the EU and EEA

According to Regulation (EC) 1073/2009, the permit enables a carrier to operate scheduled bus and coach services within the area of the EU and EEA, as long as it also has a Community licence issued by a competent authority. 

The permit is issued by the competent authority of the state where the carrier is based. Prior to granting the permit, approval for the operations within their areas must be requested from all countries along the route.

A schedule is appended to the permit which shows all the stops where passengers are picked up or set down as well as the route map.

The permit is valid for up to five years.

Certificate for own-account passenger traffic by bus or coach between Member States

The certificate, issued under Regulation (EC) 1073/2009, enables the operation of own-account passenger traffic by bus or coach between Finland and another member state.

Traffic for own-account is traffic organised by a natural or legal person without the intention of making profit or deriving commercial benefit. The coaches and buses used in this traffic are the property of the natural or legal person, or the person has purchased them by hire purchase or acquired them on a long-term rental agreement and the person or, in the case of a legal person, a member of such person’s staff drives the vehicle.

The certificate is issued by the competent authority of the member state where the bus or coach is registered and it is valid for the whole of the journey including transits. The certificate is valid for up to five years.

Notes on taxi transport

According to the Road Transport Agreement (56/2001) and the Amending Agreement (22/2016) between Finland and Russia, only transports where the same group of passengers is transported for the entire journey and a list of passengers is filled-in prior to the journey are allowed for taxis: 

a) when the journey begins and ends in the vehicle's country of registration

b) when the journey begins in the vehicle's country of registration and ends in the area of the another contracting party and the vehicle returns empty to the country of registration.

In addition, a taxi transport operator can pick up a passenger or a group of passengers from the area of the other contracting party to the area of another, if the transport has been ordered prior to the journey and the pick-up point is stated in the list of passengers. 

Only the above-mentioned transport operations are permitted to be carried out with a vehicle classified as a taxi. According to the Road Transport Agreement a taxi is a vehicle that has a maximum of 8 seats for passengers in addition to the driver's seat. During one roundtrip journey, the group of passengers cannot change. A permit for occasional passenger transport for Russia and Ukraine or a scheduled service permit cannot be used for taxi transport operations.