Finland connects closer to Europe's rail network

According to Finland's transport minister Lulu Ranne, the first departure on the new route is planned for this summer - after several years of delays.

The new connection means it will be possible to travel by train between Finland and the rest of Europe, both via Sweden and in the opposite direction towards Finnish Lapland. This is reported by the Finnish public service company Yle.

According to the plans, it will also be possible to undertake a continuous train journey of about 5,000 kilometres between Algarve in Portugal and Kolari in northern Finland - the country's northernmost railway station. The travel time between Helsinki and Stockholm is estimated to be around 24 hours.

Initially, two daily departures are planned, but according to Worth, there is potential for significantly more traffic.

The state-owned Finnish railway company VR Group states that it is still negotiating with the Finnish transport authority Traficom about the final arrangement.

According to VR's head of new traffic arrangements, Juho Hannukainen, the goal is to start the traffic during the summer - even though an exact start date has not yet been set.

The company hopes that the line will attract both Interrail travellers and regional travellers in Finland and Sweden. A previous estimate points to up to 80,000 passengers between the countries already during the first year of operation.