There’s something undeniably romantic about a cross-country train journey. The kind where landscapes shift, borders blur and you arrive in a whole new destination without ever having to board a flight.
As early as this late June, Europe is getting a brand-new train route which means that, for the first time, Finland and Sweden will finally be linked via passenger rail. It’s part of a signed agreement and financing deal between the two countries to help simplify rail traffic.
Until now, travelling between the Finnish town of Tornio and Sweden’s Haparanda meant switching to a bus or car, despite railway lines existing on both sides, according to euronews.
So, why has it been divided for so long? Well, Finland and Sweden use different track gauges, a historical quirk dating back to Finland’s time under the Russian Empire in the 19th century. The old Russian gauges measured at 1524mm, while the standard European track gauge is 1435mm.
The solution? To restore a historic train station in Haparanda (originally built in the early 1900s) and use it as the meeting point for the two systems. Passengers will step off one train, walk through the station and hop onto another. No stress, no long transfers, just an easy platform switch that stitches the networks together.
Once open, the link will unlock what’s believed to be the longest continuous train journey within the EU: a sprawling, slow-travel route stretching from Finland’s far north all the way to Portugal’s Algarve.
It will also open new, plane-free commutes across Scandinavia. Cities like Rovaniemi and Oulu will gain direct rail access to Sweden, while travellers could swap the Helsinki–Stockholm ferry for a just-over-24-hour train journey instead.
This also marks a symbolic return for Finland. Cross-border rail services between Finland and Russia were suspended in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine, and this new westward link will reshape how the country connects to the rest of Europe.
🚂 While you’re here, have a read of ’s collection of the most beautiful train journeys in Europe and across the planet.
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