Finnish Main Line

Finnish Main Line
The Main Line in Oulunkylä, Helsinki
Overview
Native nameFinnish: Päärata; Swedish: Stambanan
OwnerFinnish Transport Infrastructure Agency
Termini
Service
Route number3, 7
History
Opened17 March 1862 (1862-03-17)[a]
Technical
Line length810 km (500 mi)
Number of tracks
  • 4 (Helsinki–Kytömaa, Ainola–Purola)
  • 2 (Kytömaa–Ainola, Purola–Lielahti, Pohjois-Louko–Lapua, Kokkola–Ylivieska)
  • 1 (Lielahti–Pohjois-Louko, Lapua–Kokkola)
Route map

Helsinki
Pasila
Tikkurila
Riihimäki
Hämeenlinna
Toijala
Lempäälä
Tampere
Parkano
Seinäjoki
Lapua
Kauhava
Härmä
(summer only)
Pännäinen
Kokkola
Kannus
Ylivieska
Oulainen
Vihanti
Ruukki
Kempele
Oulu
Kemi
Tervola
Tornio-Itäinen
Muurola
Ylitornio
Rovaniemi
Pello
Misi
Kolari
Kemijärvi

The Finnish Main Line (Finnish: Päärata; Swedish: Stambanan) is a 810-kilometre (500 mi) long electrified group of railway lines in Finland between the cities of Helsinki and Oulu. The first segment, a 108-kilometre (67 mi) line from Helsinki to Hämeenlinna, was opened on March 17, 1862.[1][2]

The railway serves Helsinki, Riihimäki, Hämeenlinna, Tampere, Parkano, Seinäjoki, Kokkola, Ylivieska and Oulu. The future Suomirata project aims to improve the current Riihimäki–Tampere section by either building additional tracks alongside the existing main line or an entirely new straight line.[3] The goal is to reduce the travel time from Tampere to Helsinki from the current 1 hour 33 minutes to about an hour.[3]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Neil Kent: Helsinki: A Cultural History, p. 18. Interlink Books, 2014. ISBN 978-1566565448.
  2. ^ "Tulihevonen saapui ensi kerran Hämeenlinnaan 150 vuotta sitten" [The "fire horse" arrived first time in Hämeenlinna 150 years ago]. Yle Häme (in Finnish). Yle. January 31, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "What is Suomirata?". Suomirata. Retrieved March 17, 2022.