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• Updated: 07/04/2021 - 14:50
Fans of slow travel might soon be able journey all the way from central Europe, through Sweden and Finland and ending up in Lapland.
Despite sharing a 545-kilometre border, Sweden and Finland s railways are not connected. But with a train station in the Swedish border town of Haparanda having just been refurbished, they are a step closer to allowing for travel between the neighbouring countries.
Eco travel in Scandinavia
Last Thursday, for the first time in 29 years, a train pulled into Haparanda s refurbished station. Trains can now travel between there and Luleå, a town further into Sweden.
Cross-border passenger trains between Finland and Sweden have moved a step closer.
Last Thursday, the first train for 29 years pulled into a refurbished station at the Swedish border town of Haparanda.
That follows the opening of a line from Haparanda and Luleå further inland.
On the Finnish side, meanwhile, authorities financed a project to electrify a 20-kilometre stretch of track near Laurila, after receiving a €1.6 million grant from the European Union.
Despite sharing a 545-kilometre border, the two Scandinavian neighbours lack a working connection between their national rail services. The start of passenger traffic to Haparanda is strategically important for achieving cross-border traffic between Sweden and Finland, said Nils-Olof Lindfors, deputy chairman of the board at RKM Norrbotten.