A new international rail service between Finland and Sweden saw its inaugural trip on 10 August 2026, an occasion that marked the first train connection between the two Nordic nations for decades.
The service runs around the northeastern coast of the Bay of Bothnia, between Finnish Oulu – a major port that is the country’s fourth largest conurbation by population and is sometimes known as the capital of northern Finland – and Haparanda in Sweden, a former fur and timber export hub at the mouth of the Torne River.
Scheduled twice a day from both departure points, and taking one hour and forty minutes to complete, the full 128-km route costs from as little as €5.40, although pricing and availability will depend on the season and demand. It will be operated on board double decker trains belonging to Finnish state rail company VR. The stock has “Eko” (second class) and “Ekstra” (first class) accommodation, a bistro, playroom for children, and a range of seating options.
Although differences in rail gauges mean the trains will not be able to continue further into Sweden than Haparanda, passengers will be able to transfer there onto other southward services. The advent of the new connection also opens up a 24-hour itinerary between Helsinki and Stockholm, as well as enabling an epic 5,000-km rail adventure from the southern tip of Europe on Portugal’s Algarve to Finland’s northernmost train station of Kolari that is being hailed as the longest train journey in Europe.
@vrmatkalla Junaliikenne Suomen ja Ruotsin välillä käynnistyi tänään! 💚🇸🇪 Tunnelma ensimmäisten junavuorojen kyydissä oli innostunut, ja juna matkustajineen otettiin lämpimästi vastaan niin väliasemilla kuin Haaparannallakin. ✨ Liikennöimme Oulusta Haaparannalle ja takaisin kahdesti päivässä. ✅
♬ alkuperäinen ääni – VR Matkalla
Despite these possibilities, one of the region’s rail experts, Mark Smith, who writes as The Man in Seat 61, has expressed the “unpopular opinion” that “For Stockholm to Helsinki ‘over the top’ it’s still better to walk/taxi Haparanda to Tornio Itaïnen & catch the 22:17 sleeper to Helsinki.” Smith’s reasoning is that the “17-min connection in Tornio” is “too risky.” Nonetheless, he notes that it is meant to be a “a recognised connection and you will have a through ticket.”
Finland has not operated any trains on foreign soil since the outbreak of Russia’s war with Ukraine in 2022, when it stopped running services to St Petersburg. It’s been even longer since Sweden and Finland had a rail connection, as noted by VR’s Director for New Traffic, Juho Hannukainen, who said: “The last VR train over the boarder operated in 1988 and SJ’s [Swedish state rail firm Statens Järnvägar] in 1992. After a long wait, the return of rail traffic on this route has been met with great enthusiasm.”
Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications, Lulu Ranne, who travelled on Monday’s debut service, echoed that and said, “Transport connections are also security policy,” hailing the growing cooperation between the neighbouring countries and the way travel links between them would boost resilience.
Meanwhile, Elisa Markula, chief executive of Finland’s state-owned railway operator VR, told AFP the new service is part of a European rail “renaissance” and pointed to increasing passenger numbers.
