Finland and Sweden take crucial step toward cross-border rail return
CROSS-BORDER: Finland and Sweden have activated a bilateral agreement setting out how their national safety authorities will divide responsibility for rolling stock on the gauge-change crossing between Tornio and Haparanda.
The agreement, concluded between Finland’s Traficom and Sweden’s Transportstyrelsen, covers the practical arrangements for authorising rolling stock at the 1524 mm to 1435 mm gauge boundary.
The agreement removes the last regulatory barrier to passenger services on the route, where no regular traffic has run for decades.
Regulatory gap closed, service timeline open
Under the arrangement, Finnish operators may run 1524 mm stock authorised on the Finnish network through to Haparanda without seeking a separate Swedish authorisation, and Swedish operators may run 1435 mm stock to Tornio on the same basis.
No cross-certification is required at the border.
The agreement resolves the last remaining institutional obstacle on a crossing where the physical infrastructure is now in place. Electrification of the Laurila–Tornio–Haparanda section was completed following a project that began in 2020, leaving the regulatory framework as the outstanding gap.
VR talks unresolved
VR, Finland’s state rail operator, is in negotiations with Traficom over a concrete service contract, and no timetable for the first passenger train has been confirmed.
The route has seen no regular passenger traffic for decades. The gauge difference dates from Finland’s Russian imperial period.
Military mobility requirements, reinforced by Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO accession, contributed to the EU financing case for electrification.