History of rail transport in Finland
The history of rail transport in Finland began on January 31, 1862, with the opening of the railway line between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna.
In the 19th century Finland had an undeveloped primarily agricultural economy, the primary exports being forestry products, both timber and furs.
At that time in its history Finland was an autonomous Grand Duchy in personal union with the Russian Empire (see Grand Duchy of Finland) and subject to Russian influence, thus in 1849 Governor General Menshikov ordered the board of transportation (road and waterways) to investigate the construction of a railway connecting Helsinki and Hämeenlinna.
[3] Knut Adolf Ludvig Stjernvall [fi] was construction manager, and came under criticism for the project cost, resigning in 1861.
[1] After Helsinki intermediate stations were found at Pasila, Kerava, Hyvinkää and Riihimäki before reaching Hämeenlinna.
[8] No real progress was made until March 1867 when Finnish Senate proposed the construction of a link, in November 1867 the Tsar Alexander II gave a decree ordering its construction, stating that the link should be from Riihimäki (a station on the Helsinki–Hämeenlinna line) to St. Petersburg, being favourable for transportation and trade as well as providing employment to many currently experiencing hardship due to the crop failure that caused the Finnish famine of 1866–1868.
[9] Between Riihimäki and St. Petersburg the major stops were: Lahti, Kausala, Kouvola, Luumäki, Simola, Viipuri (Vyborg), Maaskola, Terijoki (Zelenogorsk), Valkeasaari (Beloostrov) and Spasskaja[7] The line was 371 km (231 mi) in length, and included some difficult terrain for railways—particularly swampy regions.
[10] The German firm Siemens and Halske provided the telegraph communications[10] Iron rails were imported from Belgium, being 6.4m long and weighing 30pounds per meter.
The main opening ceremony was held in February 1870 when the St. Petersburg–Vyborg section was complete, at the famous Finlyandsky Rail Terminal; itself being built specifically for the new line.
[10] The Hanko to Hyvinkää railway was a private venture funded by which began construction in March 1872, and was opened in October 1873.
[11] The line was expected to profit from enormous amounts of freight bound for the port of Hanko;[12][note 2] however, three years earlier in 1870 the Paldiski–Tallinn–St.
The first proposals for a line were made in 1863 with local grandees and businessmen supporting the project on the understanding that it would stimulate trade, as well as the wish not to become a backwater compared to other ports that had a rail connection.
[18] (Passenger traffic ceased in 1981, freight around 1990, the line has since been used for heritage trains,[14][18] and is used by the Porvoo museum railway.
From Oulu railway station the line continued via Tuira to the port of Toppila (A suburb of Oulu) on a 5 km stretch of track, two other short lines were also opened: a port connection to the Kokkola suburb of Ykspihlaja (5 km) and in 1887 to Jakobstad (Finnish Pietarsaari) from Bennas.
The final part of the line was from Sortavala though Matkaselkä, Värtsilä, Onkamo and Sulkuniemi to Joensuu was complete in 1894 adding another 133 km (83 mi).
[7] In 1898 the Hamina railway (Finnish: Haminan Rautatie, Swedish: Fredrikshamns järnväg) was founded as a privately funded enterprise; a single 27.5 km line ran to Inkeroinen.
[35] The network continued to expand; in addition to extensions to the Savonian line and the completion of the rantarata by extension 83 km (52 mi) from Karis to Pasila, the Ostrobothnian line was extended by 1903 131 km (81 mi) from Tuira[20] northwards to Tornio,[36] which is next to the Swedish border.
[38] In 1917 Vladimir Ilyich Lenin made his famous journey out of exile and travelled from Helsinki to St. Petersburg arriving at the Finland Station on 16 April 1917, by July he had to flee again, returning to Helsinki this time disguised as the fireman of the train (driven by Hugo Jalava)—he only got as far as Lahti railway station by rail as the wax used in the disguise was starting to melt.
During the Finnish Civil War the rail network was sufficiently well developed to play a significant role in the conflict;[40] a train from Russia, the so-called "weapons train" arrived in January 1918 bringing 15,000 rifles, 30 machine guns, 76mm guns, two armoured cars and ammunition.
[44] The 1930s as in other countries were considered the heyday of rail transport[45] During the Winter War the Finnish forces again used armoured trains.
The opposing Soviet forces recognised this and it was repeatedly targeted by artillery and attacked from the air; as a result hiding places had to be found for the armoured train, and modifications made—such as smokestack extension pipes that directed the exhaust smoke under the train, to reduce the risk of it being spotted.
[46] During the interim period before the Continuation War the trains were re-armed with anti-aircraft weapons to counter the constant bombing they had experienced.
