Finland to introduce first cross-border rail line to Sweden this summer

Train passengers will now be able to travel between Finland and Sweden as a new £1.65m rail service opens this summer.

The new link will allow travellers to cross the border via train for the first time in decades, connecting Finland to the rest of Europe’s rail network.

It will make it possible for travellers to complete a 5,000km journey by train between Kolari in Lapland, Finland’s northernmost station, all the way down to Portugal’s Algarve. It is thought that this will be the longest train journey in Europe.

The train link will enable a 24-hour train journey between capitals Helsinki and Stockholm – although it will be more budget-friendly or convenient to travel via ferry or plane.

"The grand opening of this route will hopefully be just before Midsummer in late June," Sampo Kangastalo, development director of the northern Finnish city of Tornio, told Yle, Finland’s national broadcaster.

To connect both countries by train, Finland said it is investing €1.9m (£1.65m) into reintroducing the Tornio–Haparanda train service, which will be fully financed by the state by the 2030s.

Haparanda on the Swedish side and Tornio on the Finnish side, are twin border towns. The towns previously had passenger trains running on the existing railway track that crosses the border, but services were suspended by both countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Currently, passengers can reach the towns by train stations on either side of the border, but have to cross into each country by car or on foot.

As part of the reintroduction of trains to the border-crossing track, Haparanda’s historic station will be restored.

"Finnish VR trains will stop at the Tornio C station and then terminate at Haparanda," Mr Kangastalo explained. "The Haparanda station building is located between the Finnish and Swedish tracks. So to change from VR to Swedish Norrtåg trains, you’ll just walk through the station building – it’s easy."

The termination of Finnish trains in Haparanda will also mark Finland’s first time operating trains in other countries since it stopped running services to St Petersburg in Russia in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Finland’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Lulu Ranne, told the broadcaster that "the goal is to get the train service started during the summer”, but no official date has been set.

She added: "It will support security of supply and resilience in times of crisis. At the same time, it will promote cross-border mobility for commuting, studying, everyday errands and tourism.

"The rail link can contribute to the formation of a cross-border labour market area in the Bothnian Arc region and improve access, particularly from the perspective of tourism in Northern Finland."

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