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Finland uses the same track widths as Russia, which are wider than the European standard – a holdover from when the Nordic nation was part of the Russian Grand Duchy in the 19th and early 20th centuries.<\/p>\n
It is currently in the process of updating its track widths to match the European standard.<\/p>\n
The new, twice-daily journey to Sweden’s Haparanda takes 100-minutes as it hugs the west coast of Finland before crossing the border between the two Nordic neighbours.<\/p>\n
Passengers travelling on from Haparanda will need to transfer onto a different train to continue southward.<\/p>\n
But the service makes it possible to travel around 5,000km by rail from Portugal’s Algarve to Finland’s northernmost train station of Kolari – believed to be the longest train route in Europe.<\/p>\n
It will also enable a 24-hour train journey between capitals Helsinki and Stockholm.<\/p>\n
Finland’s transport minister said the return of the cross-border service shows cooperation between the two countries was growing “all the time”.<\/p>\n
Elisa Markula, chief executive of Finland’s state-owned railway operator VR, said she hopes the service will benefit from a “renaissance” in rail travel across Europe.<\/p>\n
“Train travelling in all Europe is having a renaissance. Also in Finland, our passenger numbers are increasing a lot,” Markula told AFP.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n