Recent content by rf_ioliver

I had to look this one up, but yes it did exist: https://www.roamingbrit.com/p/kidney-soup and if you have enough adblockers, apparently someone donated a tin of the stuff to a Cardiff foodbank in 2017: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/someone-donated-50-year-old-13721614 or here...

I've travelled in France before, changing trains is not a problem, but just that there appear to be no trains to Metz, other than via bus at TGV Lorraine. Via Gare d'Est it might be ... a couple of hours in Paris isn't too bad - there's a nice cafe opposite Gare du Nord, Est is a short walk...

I've been looking at tickets Paris CDG to Metz in October, but it seems that the only things the SNCF booking site will give is CDG to Lorraine TGV, then either no connection onwards, or sometimes a bus (eg: AUTOCARn° 68151 for one service). Is there engineering work or am I just hitting some...

https://www.vr.fi/en/by-train-to-haaparanta When you book the ticket, eg: IC37/IC407 Helsinki-Haaparanta it CLEARLY states the seating situation and that it is a through train As for your other points, the timetables in Sweden will change later this year.

Of course, but given a lot of discussion going on (that bastion of sane, measured, intellectual discussion called Reddit) there's quite a few thinking this route is for exactly that; and then of course come the rebuttals that the route is pointless because you can't go from Helsinki to Stockholm...

Because at the moment the VR and Norrtåg trains do not connect. For example Helsinki-Stockholm, the fastest I could get via this route: Night train 265 Helsinki->Kemi, IC401 Kemi->Haaparanta arrives 5h45 (Swedish time). The Norrtåg train deparated at 5h19. The next service is Bus 20...

Currently Helsinki-Stockholm is about 29 hours, with an 8 hour bus ride from Haaparanta to Umeå. The Norrtåg train departs about 30 mins before the arriving VR train in the morning.

But the line isn't competing with the ferries...even then the airfare Helsinki-Stockholm is about the same as the ferry.

Quite a bit of discussion over on Reddit, including pictures of the certificates handed out to passengers for this first service. Also lots of discussion about "why" as it takes so long to get from Helsinki to Stockholm via this route....<sigh>

Tomorrow the first revenue train (in many years) crosses the border between Finland and Sweden. The 5h08 IC401 arrives in Tornio at 6h37, crosses the border at 6h42 and arrives at Haaparanta P at 6h45 for those in the area with a camera (or ticket) and insomnia! Train is booked to be Siemens...

A few points on Finland...most long distance services are run with the double deck stock - including the night train services that cover both the Rovaniemi and Kolari lines (some older blue carriages still run, but being phased out slowly). The Helsinki-Oulu services now have the older Allegro...

Rumours of an actual service start date of August 10th: https://www.dailynorthern.com/20113/train-travel-between-finland-and-sweden-could-begin-in-august-says-traficom/ and also on YLE: https://yle.fi/a/74-20226999

No law - longer term timetables are decided by capacity and requirements etc. Shorter term changes can be anything from months to days in advance. If there are no trains in the summer timetable then it is likely that no trains will be running. However, changes can be made of course, but I...

AI slop, note the use of the definitive article :-) Also, electrification is missing :-)

I believe it will be scrapped to be honest. There's quite a few issues that no one wants to talk about, eg: Kirkkonummi and Karjaa losing any InterCity traffic and connections to Turku for one, and then the fate of Karjaa to Salo, if passenger services are lost - there's very little freight on...