Looks like we will have soon the possibility to go to Helsinki without taking a boat...
Currently possible to reach Helsinki without a ferry via St Petersburg!
Looks like we will have soon the possibility to go to Helsinki without taking a boat...
They still need to sort out who (Norrtåg or VR) will operate across the border. I am not sure if the standard gauge line is still usable all the way to the VR station at Tornio-Itäinen, which I don’t think has much of an intercity service.
Looks like we will have soon the possibility to go to Helsinki without taking a boat...
They still need to sort out who (Norrtåg or VR) will operate across the border. I am not sure if the standard gauge line is still usable all the way to the VR station at Tornio-Itäinen, which I don’t think has much of an intercity service.
The solution at the moment is that no trains cross the border. Norrtåg will operate as far as Haparanda and no longer since the border bridge is not electrified. There is a standard gauge track all the way to Torneå Central station which as far as I know is still usable, but there is no passenger trains at the station. There are a few night trains that stop at Torneå East (Itänen) on the eastern outskirts but that stop is broad gauge only. It can be withing walking distance from Haparanda station if you have good shoes and not to much luggage, but the realistic option is probably a bus to Kemi where there are more trains to choose from. Hopefully the buses will be extended from the current bus station to the railway station.
I live in rural Sweden, north-west of Umeå, so I am looking forward to hopefully catching the first train from Umeå to Haparanda on 1 April 2020.
If you do, I hope you'll share some photos of the trip!
I think only the Finnish gauge track is in operation and Torneå Itäinen isn't the most endowed with passenger facilities: http://vaunut.org/kuva/143123?liikp1=2737The solution at the moment is that no trains cross the border. Norrtåg will operate as far as Haparanda and no longer since the border bridge is not electrified. There is a standard gauge track all the way to Torneå Central station which as far as I know is still usable, but there is no passenger trains at the station. There are a few night trains that stop at Torneå East (Itänen) on the eastern outskirts but that stop is broad gauge only. It can be withing walking distance from Haparanda station if you have good shoes and not to much luggage, but the realistic option is probably a bus to Kemi where there are more trains to choose from. Hopefully the buses will be extended from the current bus station to the railway station.
Sounds great! I'll make sure to follow your trip, and I hope there won't be any restrictions on crossing the border by then! And I couldn't help thinking that sometimes new infrastructure is not needed when I read your tweet about the bus to Haparanda. There will soon be a direct train that will cut the travel time from 7 to 5 hours. Still, Norrbotniabanan will cut the travel time even more.I shall! I tend to make very long tweet threads of my European railway journeys...
Still need to scope it out, but current plan is Umeå (or more likely Tvärålund) to Haparanda and Kemi on 1 April; Rovaniemi for the day on 2 April, then VR night train to Helsinki for the remainder of the Easter weekend. Then north via a route yet tbc, and home via the Vaasa-Umeå ferry. The new Aurora Botnia launches the following month, May, which I will also try to catch a ride on before the summer.
I think only the Finnish gauge track is in operation and Torneå Itäinen isn't the most endowed with passenger facilities: http://vaunut.org/kuva/143123?liikp1=2737
It would make be very nice it this train connected with a train to Kemi/Oulu (at least) but then again it would have to be operated by VR who have a monopoly on passenger services for quite a few more years.
Yep Tornio-Itäinen gets 2 or so trains a day, sleepers Helsinki-Kolari-Helsinki.They still need to sort out who (Norrtåg or VR) will operate across the border. I am not sure if the standard gauge line is still usable all the way to the VR station at Tornio-Itäinen, which I don’t think has much of an intercity service.
I first did the route in 1987 in a Dm7 from Kemi. I later crossed it from Sweden in a Y1 and then walked back, so that having said that I travelled to Finland, I could say I ‘gick tillbaka’, only to be told off for the wrong use of the word, and then be able to tell the teller-off that I had used it correctly. A Swedish speaker may get the joke, which isn’t as funny as it was - if indeed it ever was - now it’s written down.
[Thanks to those who told me how to find the Swedish letters on my iPad. I have - sort of - worked it out now.]
VR could do with more DMUs or even better, bimodes anyway. Bimodes especially because, aside from Oulu-Kemi, there’s no passenger diesel under the wires, so bimodes could connect places like Hanko and Savonlinna to Helsinki directly.I should join the dots here and acknowledge that I am @jbenedictbrown on Twitter. I live in rural Sweden, north-west of Umeå, so I am looking forward to hopefully catching the first train from Umeå to Haparanda on 1 April 2020.
In the recent article on Jarnvagar it was noted that the Finnish government committed in June 2020 to electrify the line from Oulu to Tornio and across the bridge to Haparanda. That will probably take a couple of years, and I remember reading (somewhere) that the box girder bridge across the Torne River is probably the only obstacle. There would not be room, for instance, for a double-decker VR sleeper to ever cross the bridge under the wires. However, the most likely outcome that we should hope for is electrification across the bridge and some kind of connecting service operated by VR from Haparanda to Oulu. The station at Haparanda is quite beautiful, and it is basically ready to go with Finnish tracks on one platform and Swedish tracks on the other. If VR had a DMU available right now it could start almost tomorrow, but sadly that seems very unlikely.
Not realistic at all - it would require standard gauge track in Finland for a very limited service. There's already Finnish gauge to Haparanda and services will probably work as they have in the past with connecting trains there.That would be great. If I can dream a bit I would love to see the standard gauge extended to Kemi and direct trains from Luleå to Kemi. But I don't think that is realistic at the moment, so I'm hoping for a direct coach to Kemi that connects to the train in Haparanda.
Yep Tornio-Itäinen gets 2 or so trains a day, sleepers Helsinki-Kolari-Helsinki.
VR could do with more DMUs or even better, bimodes anyway. Bimodes especially because, aside from Oulu-Kemi, there’s no passenger diesel under the wires, so bimodes could connect places like Hanko and Savonlinna to Helsinki directly.
Not realistic at all - it would require standard gauge track in Finland for a very limited service.
Somewhat related (of sorts)...
Does anyone know if any Finnish wagons get gauge changed at Haparanda for transit from broad gauge Finland to standard gauge Sweden? A friend of mine has seen Finnish tank wagons in Sweden, usually alone in a mixed freight, but we could not decide whether this wagon was ‘stuck’ on the standard gauge network after the Finland to Germany ferry finished, or whether there is potential for, or even a regular flow of, traffic via border crossing with a change of vehicle gauge?
Interesting side note: it seems that the current Finnish government has decided to electrify the route from Kemi to Haparanda (and maybe the Röyttä branch too?)
Hmm... maybe some services from Oulu/Kemi to Haparanda then? It would be nice to have some cross-border passenger trains but it’s very unlikely.
Great news if it's finally happening. Do you have a link?
Until then, I hope there will at least be a bus service from Haparanda station to e.g. Kemi.I had some Twitter exchanges with a VR route planner, and he publicly stated that the most desirable / likely option is a cross-border passenger train from Oulu to Haparanda.
The Finns want to go ahead with electrification to the border, but are the Swedes going to pay for the short distance from the middle of the bridge over the Torne å to Haparanda station? Without that, it is pointless, but do the Swedes consider that the work is justifiable from their point of view?Here is the source, the decision in the Finnish parliament (in Swedish): https://www.eduskunta.fi/SV/vaski/TalousarvioMietinto/Sidor/FiUB_13+2020.aspx#PaatosOsa
Here is a slightly easier to read summary from Norrtåg: https://norrtagab.se/2020/07/02/tagtrafik-lulea-uleaborg-snart-verklighet/
Until then, I hope there will at least be a bus service from Haparanda station to e.g. Kemi.
The Finns want to go ahead with electrification to the border, but are the Swedes going to pay for the short distance from the middle of the bridge over the Torne å to Haparanda station? Without that, it is pointless, but do the Swedes consider that the work is justifiable from their point of view?
The only problem would be that there isn’t really any train that could do the service. Most of the Dm12s are in use elsewhere, loco hauled... well there aren’t really usable coaches since the blue ones are mostly gone, Ex’s need a generator car for diesel and you wouldn’t use doubledeckers since it really isn’t guaranteed to be popular. As for electric trains, I guess you could use an Sm2 since they’re being replaced in the next few years.I had some Twitter exchanges with a VR route planner, and he publicly stated that the most desirable / likely option is a cross-border passenger train from Oulu to Haparanda. The (beautiful, very grand) station at Haparanda has Finnish gauge tracks on the north side of the island platform and European gauge on the south side. A local youth club has been kicked out and the indoor spaces have been renovated and prepared for service, so it is ready and waiting for a Finnish service to cross the border.
The only problem would be that there isn’t really any train that could do the service. Most of the Dm12s are in use elsewhere, loco hauled... well there aren’t really usable coaches since the blue ones are mostly gone, Ex’s need a generator car for diesel and you wouldn’t use doubledeckers since it really isn’t guaranteed to be popular. As for electric trains, I guess you could use an Sm2 since they’re being replaced in the next few years.
The bridge will need to be solved in some way, but if Finland wants to electrify I'm sure Sweden will cooperate to make sure there is no gap.
Hopefully it will not be like Östersund-Trondheim where Sweden electrified to the border a couple of years ago to meet up with a planned Norwegian electrification that still hasn't taken place…
My 2 best friends and I did an InterRail trip from Sweden to Finland on the overland route in the 80s, we caught the Swedish overnight train from the middle of the country to Haparanda and got lost trying to cross the river on foot to Finland after being dropped off there. Eventually we managed to hitch to Kemi and from there catch the overnight train to Helsinki, it was quite an adventure!
SourceThere is something that marks Finland and Sweden out as unusual in Europe: They are neighbouring countries that do not have a working passenger train connection.
But this could change, if the two nations decide to finance works including track electrification and the renewal of a railway bridge across the Tornio river.
One big step in the process will take place on 1 April, when the station in the Swedish border town of Haparanda reopens for passenger trains after a 29-year break. The reopened station will offer connections to long-distance trains to the south.
Well... it’s a brand new loco which IMO should be put on the big IC lines, hell, you don’t even see them in places like Kuopio! I think that if the line were to be electrified it should be Sr1s, maybe with a config such as Sr1+Ex+Ex+Rx+Expt, like the sets which run the ”IC” services between Oulu and Rovaniemi. Yeah it’s a short enough route to not need a restaurant car but it’s either that or an Edfs since Rx’s also have a conductor’s compartment.The Sr3's could do if the line is electrified, but not the bridge. Though sending an Sr3 + coaches would be overkill admittedly