Finland

[shredder1]

Hi, I fly into Roveniemi late February, Ill be interrailing and hitting as many lines as possible, Ive only ever been to Helsinki before. I just want some information of the far north lines to Kemijarvi and Patokangas and also the other line up to Kolari, each has a one train a day advertised, but both trains appear to stay at the top of the line for quite a few hours before returning. What Im asking is, is there anything at the end of these lines to keep you occupied between trains, oer any bus services to get you back either to Rovaniemi or Kemi or even between each railway, thanks in advance.

 

[rvdborgt]

Check bus timetables on https://www.matkahuolto.fi/en
There should be a daily connection Rovaniemi - Kolari on weekdays.

 

[Zerothebrake!]

I was out there in November. The Helsinki to Kolari overnight service (train 269) runs twice a week and the 28XX diesel comes on at Oulu.

You can get off at Tornio East and walk across the border into Haparanda in Sweden - they share the same bus station and you can get back to the main line at Kemi from there.

The station in Kolari is in the middle of nowhere with no bus into town...It"s right on the Swedish border and the locals tend to go into Sweden to do their shopping etc. There was a school bus back to Tornio mid afternoon when I went.

The Kemijarvi overnight train runs every day and the station is on the edge of the town. The bus station is behind a petrol station come diner on the main road and there are buses back into Rovaniemi otherwise you'll have to stay there the whole day for the night train back.

Hope this helps.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jan 2026 ==

Also, if you are interested in seeing some of the old Russian built SR1 locos take a train out to Kouvola from Helsinki ( 1hr 40mins) as there's an active Loco Depot situated alongside the platforms.

I saw twenty five on two visits but they are being replaced with 70 new Vectrons ..and if you want a ride on one of the Allegro trains that used to run to St Petersburg they use one or two a day from Helsinki to Turku - I found one on the 14.38 ex Helsinki one day and jumped off at the station before Turku for an ordinary Pendolino straight back.

They are advertised as 'Pendolino
Plus' in the timetable but can be subbed out for a normal one on occasions.

Cheers for now Z.

 

[43096]

Also, if you are interested in seeing some of the old Russian built SR1 locos take a train out to Kouvola from Helsinki ( 1hr 40mins) as there's an active Loco Depot situated alongside the platforms.

I saw twenty five on two visits but they are being replaced with 70 new Vectrons ..

It’s 80 new Vectrons being delivered and the order is nearly complete with Siemens having built over 70 of them. Many Sr2 locos have also been stored as a result, too.

 

[shredder1]

Check bus timetables on https://www.matkahuolto.fi/en
There should be a daily connection Rovaniemi - Kolari on weekdays.

Thats very helpful thank you very much, appreciated.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jan 2026 ==

I was out there in November. The Helsinki to Kolari overnight service (train 269) runs twice a week and the 28XX diesel comes on at Oulu.

You can get off at Tornio East and walk across the border into Haparanda in Sweden - they share the same bus station and you can get back to the main line at Kemi from there.

The station in Kolari is in the middle of nowhere with no bus into town...It"s right on the Swedish border and the locals tend to go into Sweden to do their shopping etc. There was a school bus back to Tornio mid afternoon when I went.

The Kemijarvi overnight train runs every day and the station is on the edge of the town. The bus station is behind a petrol station come diner on the main road and there are buses back into Rovaniemi otherwise you'll have to stay there the whole day for the night train back.

Hope this helps.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jan 2026 ==

Also, if you are interested in seeing some of the old Russian built SR1 locos take a train out to Kouvola from Helsinki ( 1hr 40mins) as there's an active Loco Depot situated alongside the platforms.

I saw twenty five on two visits but they are being replaced with 70 new Vectrons ..and if you want a ride on one of the Allegro trains that used to run to St Petersburg they use one or two a day from Helsinki to Turku - I found one on the 14.38 ex Helsinki one day and jumped off at the station before Turku for an ordinary Pendolino straight back.

They are advertised as 'Pendolino
Plus' in the timetable but can be subbed out for a normal one on occasions.

Cheers for now Z.

Thats fantastic, thank you so much, very much appreciated.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jan 2026 ==

It’s 80 new Vectrons being delivered and the order is nearly complete with Siemens having built over 70 of them. Many Sr2 locos have also been stored as a result, too.

I managed to catch up with some SR2s on my visit to Helsinki a few years ago, I must confess to not being a great fan of Vectrons, they are everywhere now, thanks for the info though, much appreciated.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jan 2026 ==

Hope this helps.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Jan 2026 ==

Also, if you are interested in seeing some of the old Russian built SR1 locos take a train out to Kouvola from Helsinki ( 1hr 40mins) as there's an active Loco Depot situated alongside the platforms.

I saw twenty five on two visits but they are being replaced with 70 new Vectrons ..and if you want a ride on one of the Allegro trains that used to run to St Petersburg they use one or two a day from Helsinki to Turku - I found one on the 14.38 ex Helsinki one day and jumped off at the station before Turku for an ordinary Pendolino straight back.



Cheers for now Z.

Thanks again for that, I will now be heading out to Kouvola as soon as I get down to Helsinki, Turku is also on my list. You guys have given me a few ideas, thank you all.

 

[rf_ioliver]

Not much traffic on the line to Kolari, basically the night train and one freight per day. Kolari itself is a small town (Lapland small town = village), and the station itself is basically a rail head for the surrounding ski resorts. Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi are much larger towns, with Rovaniemi being basically *the* city in Lapland - plenty to do there, including some very good museums, restaurants and the near-by Santa Park etc.

Tomorrow, for example, Rovaniemi seems 6 departures southbound - if you're looking to visit Lapland then Rovaniemi is the best place to go.

If you want to see what is running and in a lot of cases what motive power, check out juliadata.fi which collates all the public data from Finntrafic. You'll have to figure out the Finnish, but "kartta" is map, and juliadata has a very nice live map. Works on mobile too, YMMV with Google Translate. It does show all passenger, commuter, infrastructure/work and freight trains.

Turku is worth a visit for the town itself and the new main station. Kouvola...depressing industrial city with big rail yard. If you want Sr1s then take the commuter train from there down to Kotka - maybe jump off at one of the intermediate stations, it is a very busy freight line and in the progress of being modernised ECTS - I know people who have worked on it and the capacity and capabilities of the signalling system are impressive. For example, everything passing through Inkeroinen tomorow: https://juliadata.fi/timetables?s=IKR&d=7.1.2026 T=tavara (freight), HL=henkilölikenne (commuter), VET=veturi (locomotive, light engine). High probability of Sr1s.
Your other option is heading up to Tampere (much nicer than Kouvola) - there's a big rail yard there south of the city centre with quite a few Sr1s hanging around last Sunday that I saw. Toijala and Hamenlinna are major towns along the line with both commuter and InterCity services, here's an example of the freight traffic through Toijala for tomorrow: https://juliadata.fi/timetables?s=TL&d=7.1.2026

 

[shredder1]

Not much traffic on the line to Kolari, basically the night train and one freight per day. Kolari itself is a small town (Lapland small town = village), and the station itself is basically a rail head for the surrounding ski resorts. Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi are much larger towns, with Rovaniemi being basically *the* city in Lapland - plenty to do there, including some very good museums, restaurants and the near-by Santa Park etc.

Tomorrow, for example, Rovaniemi seems 6 departures southbound - if you're looking to visit Lapland then Rovaniemi is the best place to go.

If you want to see what is running and in a lot of cases what motive power, check out juliadata.fi which collates all the public data from Finntrafic. You'll have to figure out the Finnish, but "kartta" is map, and juliadata has a very nice live map. Works on mobile too, YMMV with Google Translate. It does show all passenger, commuter, infrastructure/work and freight trains.

Turku is worth a visit for the town itself and the new main station. Kouvola...depressing industrial city with big rail yard. If you want Sr1s then take the commuter train from there down to Kotka - maybe jump off at one of the intermediate stations, it is a very busy freight line and in the progress of being modernised ECTS - I know people who have worked on it and the capacity and capabilities of the signalling system are impressive. For example, everything passing through Inkeroinen tomorow: https://juliadata.fi/timetables?s=IKR&d=7.1.2026 T=tavara (freight), HL=henkilölikenne (commuter), VET=veturi (locomotive, light engine). High probability of Sr1s.
Your other option is heading up to Tampere (much nicer than Kouvola) - there's a big rail yard there south of the city centre with quite a few Sr1s hanging around last Sunday that I saw. Toijala and Hamenlinna are major towns along the line with both commuter and InterCity services, here's an example of the freight traffic through Toijala for tomorrow: https://juliadata.fi/timetables?s=TL&d=7.1.2026

Thank you so much, some fantastic information there, very much appreciated, thank you.

 

[jamesontheroad]

You can get off at Tornio East and walk across the border into Haparanda in Sweden - they share the same bus station and you can get back to the main line at Kemi from there.

If time allows, check out the two railway stations at Tornio Central and Haparanda. They’ve both been subject to recent upgrades in anticipation of cross-border service resuming. Tornio C is about half a mile from Tornio East. Even without service, I expect the platform at Tornio C to be getting some basic snow clearance.

Haparanda is about 2km walk from the bus station, but you go through the centre of the Swedish town. It’s a beautiful building… unimaginably large for such a small facility. The passenger spaces inside were renovated about 5 years ago. The Swedish track is on the south side of the island platform and the Finnish platform is on the north. Notice how they’ve installed a Finnish departure board on that platform.

Service is very unlikely to start before your visit, but the stations might be worth a diversion.

 

[shredder1]

If time allows, check out the two railway stations at Tornio Central and Haparanda. They’ve both been subject to recent upgrades in anticipation of cross-border service resuming. Tornio C is about half a mile from Tornio East. Even without service, I expect the platform at Tornio C to be getting some basic snow clearance.

Haparanda is about 2km walk from the bus station, but you go through the centre of the Swedish town. It’s a beautiful building… unimaginably large for such a small facility. The passenger spaces inside were renovated about 5 years ago. The Swedish track is on the south side of the island platform and the Finnish platform is on the north. Notice how they’ve installed a Finnish departure board on that platform.

Service is very unlikely to start before your visit, but the stations might be worth a diversion.

Thats good to know, yes Ill check them out, thank you.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Thats good to know, yes Ill check them out, thank you.

But dress warm! February will still be cold. Wool socks + Uniqlo "Heatteach" base layers are my top tips for a trip to the Nordic countries in Jan/Feb. If you follow my itinerary you will be outside for a couple of hours.

 

[shredder1]

But dress warm! February will still be cold. Wool socks + Uniqlo "Heatteach" base layers are my top tips for a trip to the Nordic countries in Jan/Feb. If you follow my itinerary you will be outside for a couple of hours.

Thank you very much, I was over the artic circle at Narvic this time last year, so should be alright, thank you.

 

[CarrotPie]

Also, if you are interested in seeing some of the old Russian built SR1 locos take a train out to Kouvola from Helsinki ( 1hr 40mins) as there's an active Loco Depot situated alongside the platforms.

Pairs of Sr1 locos still make a semi-regular appearance on night trains, especially in the high season (Christmas+February-April), but they like to hang around on train pair 273/266, which annoyingly goes to neither Kemijärvi or Kolari. Sr1s also exclusively operate the twice-daily "pocket rocket" between Ylivieska and Iisalmi - with 3000kW+ on tap for two carriages, the ride quality is like a Pacer, but well worth the trip (in my opinion, anyway!) for the rare traction+carriages.

I can also recommend you stay away from the railcars (train numbers HDM xxx), which are awful to travel on, don't run on scenic routes and serve most of the least-used stations in the country. Especially don't go to Nurmes - I went there a while ago just to say I did it and it was definitely not worth it!

Going in late February means there's daily sleeper trains from Helsinki to Kemijärvi (265 up/274 down), Kolari (269/276) and Rovaniemi (273/266), plus extra "seasonal" services to Kolari (263/262 on Friday/Saturday) and Rovaniemi (267/264 on Wednesday/Thursday+Friday/Saturday) - all of them have seated cars but only one or two.

As rf_ioliver said, juliadata.fi is the trainspotters' bible over here and it will even put a little red flag next to rare trains. Google Translate seems to work fairly well on it.


It's a shame to hear there's nothing to do at Kolari or Kemijärvi as I was planning to go up there at some point just for the hell of it. The furthest north I've gone by rail was Rovaniemi (not even on night trains!) but I don't know if I can be bothered to wait 11 hours in Kemijärvi.

 

[Pegpilot]

What's the state of the route between Kemi and Kolari these days ? Double track ? Electrified ? I had dealings with a mining company a few years back that was considering the line for transport of significant quantities of iron ore (millions of tonnes per annum), but the line would have needed significant upgrading.

 

[rvdborgt]

Kemi-Tornio has been electrified, as you can see on openrailwaymap; Tornio-Kolari is planned to be electrified, according to Wikipedia.

 

[CarrotPie]

What's the state of the route between Kemi and Kolari these days ? Double track ? Electrified ? I had dealings with a mining company a few years back that was considering the line for transport of significant quantities of iron ore (millions of tonnes per annum), but the line would have needed significant upgrading.

Kemi-Kolari is single-track and electrified to Tornio (and then to Haaparanta on the Swedish side) as of last year. More information about the planned electrification to Kolari can be found here (in Finnish). The current line speed is 100 km/h and 80 km/h for freight.

Kolari currently receives 4-8 sleeper trains a week and a daily log train from Kemi (extra log trains run from Kemi to Pello), so it's not a busy line. However, pretty much everything else in Finland is already electrified, so there's a good chance they actually get round to this soon.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Hertz and MABI both have rental franchises in Kolari. You could rent a car for the day and do some sightseeing - maybe even get a day pass to go skiing? At least having a warm car will let you see some of the countryside and get to more places to eat and drink.

 

[CarrotPie]

Oh, and since you said you're on Interrail: HSL (Helsinki area's purple commuter trains) have recently started accepting Interrail tickets again, so Interrail is fine on every train in the country now (except freight! ).

I've done planning before to visit all the stations in the shortest time possible (not had the money to do it yet, unfortunately) and it can be done in 7-8 days, assuming no cancellations. Thankfully in Finland virtually all connecting trains will be held (sometimes for an hour or two!) unless there's another one along shortly afterwards.

 

[shredder1]

Pairs of Sr1 locos still make a semi-regular appearance on night trains, especially in the high season (Christmas+February-April), but they like to hang around on train pair 273/266, which annoyingly goes to neither Kemijärvi or Kolari. Sr1s also exclusively operate the twice-daily "pocket rocket" between Ylivieska and Iisalmi - with 3000kW+ on tap for two carriages, the ride quality is like a Pacer, but well worth the trip (in my opinion, anyway!) for the rare traction+carriages.

I can also recommend you stay away from the railcars (train numbers HDM xxx), which are awful to travel on, don't run on scenic routes and serve most of the least-used stations in the country. Especially don't go to Nurmes - I went there a while ago just to say I did it and it was definitely not worth it!

Going in late February means there's daily sleeper trains from Helsinki to Kemijärvi (265 up/274 down), Kolari (269/276) and Rovaniemi (273/266), plus extra "seasonal" services to Kolari (263/262 on Friday/Saturday) and Rovaniemi (267/264 on Wednesday/Thursday+Friday/Saturday) - all of them have seated cars but only one or two.

As rf_ioliver said, juliadata.fi is the trainspotters' bible over here and it will even put a little red flag next to rare trains. Google Translate seems to work fairly well on it.


It's a shame to hear there's nothing to do at Kolari or Kemijärvi as I was planning to go up there at some point just for the hell of it. The furthest north I've gone by rail was Rovaniemi on a day trip from Helsinki (not even on night trains!) but I don't know if I can be bothered to wait 11 hours in Kemijärvi.

Thank you for the info, Ill add it to my notes.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Jan 2026 ==

Hertz and MABI both have rental franchises in Kolari. You could rent a car for the day and do some sightseeing - maybe even get a day pass to go skiing? At least having a warm car will let you see some of the countryside and get to more places to eat and drink.

Worth knowing, thank you

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Jan 2026 ==

Oh, and since you said you're on Interrail: HSL (Helsinki area's purple commuter trains) have recently started accepting Interrail tickets again, so Interrail is fine on every train in the country now (except freight! ).

I've done planning before to visit all the stations in the shortest time possible (not had the money to do it yet, unfortunately) and it can be done in 7-8 days, assuming no cancellations. Thankfully in Finland virtually all connecting trains will be held (sometimes for an hour or two!) unless there's another one along shortly afterwards.

Thats good, thank you, I will want to do as many commuter trains are possible also

 

[rf_ioliver]

If you're going to do the commuter trains, careful with the trains to Hanko - there is a very limited "regional/commuter" service from Helsinki, otherwise you have to take the InterCity service (hourly) to Karjaa and change there.

Trains east of Lahti towards Kouvola and Kotka are interesting - the Kouvola-Kotka line is being seriously upgraded with ECTS and the passenger services have increased along with rebuilt stations. Kotka has a few gems: the SeaMuseum next to Kotka Satama station (the end of the line) is well worth a visit; I think the old icebreaker they have is still open to the public.

Otherwise Helsinki region is easily doable in a day: Kirkonummi, Riihimäki and Lähti with the loop on the P/I-trains via the airport. Take the light rail tram 15 for a spin too. It is an hour end-to-end from Itäkeskus to Keilaniemi with metro connections either end. And if you accept the "all-the-stations London Underground challenge"...that's quite easy in Helsinki

Also check https://juliadata.fi/live and look for trains marked MUS (Museo = Heritage/Museum train), you might get lucky and see a steam train (Ukko-Pekka) or a Dm7 diesel unit.

 

[CarrotPie]

And if you accept the "all-the-stations London Underground challenge"...that's quite easy in Helsinki

And we have some brilliantly refurbished old metro stock

Trains east of Lahti towards Kouvola and Kotka are interesting - the Kouvola-Kotka line is being seriously upgraded with ECTS and the passenger services have increased along with rebuilt stations.

These commuter trains (also most G and M services, and some R and Z services) are also operated with the (almost) 50-year-old Sm2 units, which are pretty nice to travel on as an enthusiast, especially with the window open.

Also check https://juliadata.fi/live and look for trains marked MUS (Museo = Heritage/Museum train), you might get lucky and see a steam train (Ukko-Pekka)

Because Ukko-Pekka always runs to schedule...

 

[stadler]

Oh, and since you said you're on Interrail: HSL (Helsinki area's purple commuter trains) have recently started accepting Interrail tickets again, so Interrail is fine on every train in the country now (except freight! ).

I've done planning before to visit all the stations in the shortest time possible (not had the money to do it yet, unfortunately) and it can be done in 7-8 days, assuming no cancellations. Thankfully in Finland virtually all connecting trains will be held (sometimes for an hour or two!) unless there's another one along shortly afterwards.

I struggle to believe that you could visit every station in seven or eight days. I think that at least one or two months is more realistic and you would have to be doing it full time. Many branches in Finland only have one or two trains a day in each direction. So it could take you a week just to do one single branch. The only possibility to do it in less time would be if you visited them all by car.

 

[CarrotPie]

I struggle to believe that you could visit every station in seven or eight days. I think that at least one or two months is more realistic and you would have to be doing it full time. Many branches in Finland only have one or two trains a day in each direction. So it could take you a week just to do one single branch. The only possibility to do it in less time would be if you visited them all by car.

I meant Tube Challenge style, so simply stopping at each station. That itself could be sped up to five or six days by using a car. ISTR to do it in seven days by train you'd need to spend a night doing the Helsinki commuter routes, which sounds, um, fun.

Getting out at each station would be an exceptionally long pursuit full of many boring hours waiting for trains in the middle of nowhere.

 

[stadler]

I meant Tube Challenge style, so simply stopping at each station. That itself could be sped up to five or six days by using a car. ISTR to do it in seven days by train you'd need to spend a night doing the Helsinki commuter routes, which sounds, um, fun.

Getting out at each station would be an exceptionally long pursuit full of many boring hours waiting for trains in the middle of nowhere.

Ah that makes sense now. So just travelling on trains that stop at every station but not boarding or alighting. That would probably still be a very expensive challenge due to Finland having no rover tickets.

I like ticking off stations but i set myself much stricter rules that include boarding and alighting and spending time at every station. I have only ticked off about 20% to 25% of stations in Finland so far. I hope to complete it eventually. Finland has a smaller amount of stations compared to many other countries so it is a slightly easier one.

To be fair Finland has very few stations that are very remote or rural. Almost all of them are at least within a small town and have some shops or supermarkets or restaurants nearby. Some of the smaller ones in the Helsinki urban area are probably the least interesting but at least they have frequent trains.

Pihlajavesi and Myllymaki and Elainpuisto Zoo were probably the most remote rural ones i can remember visiting off the top of my head. They were actually lovely places despite having nothing there. I had hours at each and it was nice weather. There is something nice about walking through Finnish forests and countryside in the middle of nowhere.

 

[CarrotPie]

That would probably still be a very expensive challenge due to Finland having no rover tickets.

We do! We have the "holiday ticket", which is €362 for 30 days (5, 7, 9 and 14-day ones are available as well), but you can only use those May-August ("holiday" as in "summer holiday"). There's also single-country Interrail tickets, which have the advantage of being accepted on HSL services, but I've no idea how expensive they are.

Edit: cheaper than I expected, but still way more expensive than the VR holiday ticket, although obviously you can use Interrail all year round and not necessarily on consecutive days. Link here.

To be fair Finland has very few stations that are very remote or rural. Almost all of them are at least within a small town and have some shops or supermarkets or restaurants nearby. Some of the smaller ones in the Helsinki urban area are probably the least interesting but at least they have frequent trains.

Pihlajavesi and Myllymaki and Elainpuisto Zoo were probably the most remote rural ones i can remember visiting off the top of my head. They were actually lovely places despite having nothing there. I had hours at each and it was nice weather. There is something nice about walking through Finnish forests and countryside in the middle of nowhere.

Unfortunately, it's always the stations that get two trains a day that have nothing near them... I've wanted to visit Misi for a while, but there's basically half a village and that's it. I spent an hour and a half in Nurmes once; that was quite nice. Definitely not a winter job, though — it's a chilly -14ºC in Helsinki today!

Kohtavaara has also fascinated me for a long time — it was the least used station in the country in 2024 — and I believe it's possible to get off there, walk a few miles to Nurmes and then get the train back without having to wait for two hours in the middle of naff all. I also visited Inkoo a few weeks after it reopened in 2024. Even though it's the least-served station in the country with three trains a week in each direction, it's less than an hour between trains, so it's easy to tick off of an evening from Helsinki.

Quite a few rural stations have gravel platforms still — some nice ones that spring to mind are Tervajoki, Runni and Nivala, and Haapamäki is also nice to explore if you've got some time.

Sounds like I need to make a spreadhseets for the station usgae stats from 2025 and for the stations I've visited and "ticked off"...

 

[rf_ioliver]

I struggle to believe that you could visit every station in seven or eight days. I think that at least one or two months is more realistic and you would have to be doing it full time. Many branches in Finland only have one or two trains a day in each direction. So it could take you a week just to do one single branch. The only possibility to do it in less time would be if you visited them all by car.

If you make it an "All-The-Stations" style challenge, then it is doable, though only in Summer as IIRC, Härmä is only open for a few months per year to serve PowerPark nearby, and also Hillosensalmi to serve walkers to the national park.

If you want to get off and wait for the next train, then Joensuu-Nurmes and Joensuu-Varkaus-Pieksämäki are going to take weeks to complete.

No more trains to Russian, but using the above criteria, Vainikkala would have always been an interesting problem.

 

[stadler]

We do! We have the "holiday ticket", which is €362 for 30 days (5, 7, 9 and 14-day ones are available as well), but you can only use those May-August ("holiday" as in "summer holiday"). There's also single-country Interrail tickets, which have the advantage of being accepted on HSL services, but I've no idea how expensive they are.

Edit: cheaper than I expected, but still way more expensive than the VR holiday ticket, although obviously you can use Interrail all year round and not necessarily on consecutive days. Link here.


Unfortunately, it's always the stations that get two trains a day that have nothing near them... I've wanted to visit Misi for a while, but there's basically half a village and that's it. I spent an hour and a half in Nurmes once; that was quite nice. Definitely not a winter job, though — it's a chilly -14ºC in Helsinki today!

Kohtavaara has also fascinated me for a long time — it was the least used station in the country in 2024 — and I believe it's possible to get off there, walk a few miles to Nurmes and then get the train back without having to wait for two hours in the middle of naff all. I also visited Inkoo a few weeks after it reopened in 2024. Even though it's the least-served station in the country with three trains a week in each direction, it's less than an hour between trains, so it's easy to tick off of an evening from Helsinki.

Quite a few rural stations have gravel platforms still — some nice ones that spring to mind are Tervajoki, Runni and Nivala, and Haapamäki is also nice to explore if you've got some time.

Sounds like I need to make a spreadhseets for the station usgae stats from 2025 and for the stations I've visited and "ticked off"...

Oh good to know. I never realised Finland had a rover ticket. Shame it is only available in the summer but it looks good value. I will look in to that next time i am there in the summer. Excluding the HSL stuff on the holiday ticket is a bit annoying especially as VR operate it and they now accept interrail. But it is still good value anyway.

I am always surprised that gravel platforms still exist nowadays especially with all the accessibility and disability regulations. Finland seems to still have some wooden platforms too.

Not surprising to hear that Kohtavaara was the least used. There is about five houses and then nothing else but trees in every direction. I have also been curious how Kohtavaara got its name. Finnish stations are normally named after the place and the actual village here (if you can even call it a village with just five houses) is called Lipinlahti so i am not sure where the station name is from.

Kylanlahti two stops down is another very rural one. It even has a level crossing without lights or barriers which appear to be fairly rare in Finland nowadays.

Are the usage statistics for Finnish stations (both for the current year and for previous years) available online anywhere? If so would you have a link to these usage statistics please?

If you make it an "All-The-Stations" style challenge, then it is doable, though only in Summer as IIRC, Härmä is only open for a few months per year to serve PowerPark nearby, and also Hillosensalmi to serve walkers to the national park.

If you want to get off and wait for the next train, then Joensuu-Nurmes and Joensuu-Varkaus-Pieksämäki are going to take weeks to complete.

No more trains to Russian, but using the above criteria, Vainikkala would have always been an interesting problem.

Back when the Allegro trains ran could you still board and alight at Vainikkala even if it was unofficial? I know it was a border control stop but i can not remember if all the doors were released?

 

[CarrotPie]

Oh good to know. I never realised Finland had a rover ticket. Shame it is only available in the summer but it looks good value. I will look in to that next time i am there in the summer. Excluding the HSL stuff on the holiday ticket is a bit annoying especially as VR operate it and they now accept interrail. But it is still good value anyway.

The issue is that HSL get the revenue for their "purple trains" and pay VR to operate them. So if they accepted the rover ticket, HSL wouldn't get any revenue unless they made some sort of contract, which I guess they can't be bothered to do. With Interrail I think it's just a case of it's such little revenue that nobody cares (or maybe there has been some sort of new agreement made with HSL?)

Hillosensalmi to serve walkers to the national park.

Hillosensalmi is open April-October (I don't remember the exact dates for 2026).

If you want to get off and wait for the next train, then Joensuu-Nurmes and Joensuu-Varkaus-Pieksämäki are going to take weeks to complete.

Joensuu-Nurmes could be done in two or three days, although accomadation would be an issue. This sounds like the Finnish equivalent of the Heart of Wales Challenge!

I am always surprised that gravel platforms still exist nowadays especially with all the accessibility and disability regulations. Finland seems to still have some wooden platforms too.

Yes, there are a number of stations that have very low wooden platforms, mostly in central and eastern Finland, and a lot of our trains are still high-floor (although Pendolinos and Dm12 railcars have wheelchair lifts).

Not surprising to hear that Kohtavaara was the least used. There is about five houses and then nothing else but trees in every direction. I have also been curious how Kohtavaara got its name. Finnish stations are normally named after the place and the actual village here (if you can even call it a village with just five houses) is called Lipinlahti so i am not sure where the station name is from.

The station was called Lipinlahti until 1925. "Kohtavaara" is a big rock nearby, apparently.

Kylanlahti two stops down is another very rural one.

That whole line is very rural indeed and I believe the least-used line in the country. Certainly in the summer, when other railcar lines often need road coaches for extra capacity, only the Nurmes line never seems to need them.

Despite having 16 railcars built in the mid-2000s, VR are unable to operate the five lines (each requiring one railcar each!) consistently every day, because four railcars have been written off after fires or crashes...and the remaining 12 are jealous of the four's early retirement and keep trying to join them!

It even has a level crossing without lights or barriers which appear to be fairly rare in Finland nowadays.

Väylävirasto says (in Finnish only) that of the 2,300 level crossings, around 70% are so-called "unguarded" (= open) crossings. They're obviously rare in the dense(r) south and on the high(er)-speed lines, but in the north and the east, they're everywhere. Very occasionally we even manage a year without any deaths on them.

Are the usage statistics for Finnish stations (both for the current year and for previous years) available online anywhere? If so would you have a link to these usage statistics please?

The 2019 statistics are publicly available through an old FOI request. When I asked Väylävirasto for the 2024 stats, they emailed them to me but told me I should ask VR in the future as it wasn't really their job to be emailing them out. So I asked VR, who in turn said that the data was, confusingly, not public! If they say that when I ask them next time I shall email them last year's statistics and see what they do about it!

Edit: I have just asked VR for the 2025 statistics and I shall try and remember to report back here.

Back when the Allegro trains ran could you still board and alight at Vainikkala even if it was unofficial? I know it was a border control stop but i can not remember if all the doors were released?

Vainikkala was an official stop, but it was pick-up only on services towards Russia.

 

[MoominAndChips]

Especially don't go to Nurmes - I went there a while ago just to say I did it and it was definitely not worth it!

I don't know if I can be bothered to wait 11 hours in Kemijärvi.

Planning to get the train to both at some point, but taking an inflatable kayak to keep me amused. In the case of Kemijärvi, just a long, long day and return, whereas I'd kayak from Nurmes to Joensuu (or Savonlinna if I felt really ambitious) and get the train home to Oulu from there.

 

[rvdborgt]

I don't know if I can be bothered to wait 11 hours in Kemijärvi.

in 2019 we used a bus to get to Kemijärvi and then an evening train back to Rovaniemi, where we stayed. We only needed to kill 3 hours and that was long enough...

 

[shredder1]

in 2019 we used a bus to get to Kemijärvi and then an evening train back to Rovaniemi, where we stayed. We only needed to kill 3 hours and that was long enough...

I might look at that