A new passenger train has started running between Finland and Sweden for the first time in nearly 40 years. The service, which runs twice daily, takes around 100 minutes to travel from Oulu, Finland to Haparanda, Sweden, where passengers can transfer onto another train to continue southward. According to transport officials, this new route makes it possible to travel by rail over 5,000km from Portugal's Algarve to Finland's northernmost train station of Kolari, believed to be the longest train route in Europe. The return of the cross-border service is seen as a sign of growing cooperation between Finland and Sweden.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A new passenger train service has started running between Finland and Sweden, connecting northern Finland to southern Europe for the first time in nearly 40 years. The inaugural service departed from the Finnish city of *Oulu* at 05:00 local time on Monday, making its way across the border into Sweden's *Haparanda* station. The train route was initially suspended in the late 1980s due to low passenger numbers and technical differences in the tracks between Finland and Europe. The Finnish rail network uses a wider track width than the European standard, which is being updated to match the international norm. The new service will run twice daily from Haparanda to Sweden's border town, taking 100 minutes to cover the distance. Passengers traveling on from Haparanda will need to transfer onto a different train to continue southward. This new connection makes it possible for passengers to travel by rail from Portugal's *Algarve* to Finland's northernmost train station of *Kolari*, covering a distance of 5,000km, which is believed to be the longest train route in Europe.
Written for “Rail Link Between Nations Reopens” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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No political leaning scored for article 646 · logged 2026-08-27
- Published
A new passenger train linking Finland and Sweden has begun running, creating the first rail connection between northern Finland and southern Europe in nearly 40 years.
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train → publish → years
Shortly after 05:00 local time (04:00 BST) on Monday, a double-decker train set off from the coastal Finnish city of Oulu, rumbling its way across the border to Sweden.
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train → set → Sweden
As the inaugural service crossed the Torne river from Finland and pulled into Sweden's Haparanda station, it was met by crowds of people waving Finnish and Swedish flags.
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it → cross → flags
The route was initially suspended in the late 1980s to the early 1990s, due to low passenger numbers and technical differences in the tracks between Finland and Europe.
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route → suspend → Finland
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.
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nation → use → centuries
It is currently in the process of updating its track widths to match the European standard.
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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.
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it → take → neighbours
Passengers travelling on from Haparanda will need to transfer onto a different train to continue southward.
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.
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it → travel → Europe
It will also enable a 24-hour train journey between capitals Helsinki and Stockholm.
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Finland's transport minister said the return of the cross-border service shows cooperation between the two countries was growing "all the time".
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cooperation → say → countries
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.
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service → own → Europe
"Train travelling in all Europe is having a renaissance.
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Also in Finland, our passenger numbers are increasing a lot," Markula told AFP.
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Markula → increase → AFP
