Train routes in Finland
25 routes · classic 21 · night train 2 · heritage 2
25 routes cross Finland in the World Train Map atlas. The longest is the VR Night Train at 989 km; the fastest is the Rantarata Coastal Line, running up to 200 km/h; the oldest line dates to 1869. Every route links to its facts, photo and story, and to the interactive world map.
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Classic (21)
- Rantarata Coastal Line
Finland’s two capitals on the 1903 Rantarata: “coast line” by name, though the track runs mostly inland through granite cuttings and forest. Pendolino Plus sets joined the double-deck ICs in late 2025.
Wikipedia ↗ - InterCity 25
Finland’s Main Line north to the Gulf of Bothnia: the double-deck IC25 is now the fastest to Oulu, with ex-Russia Allegro sets running alongside as Pendolino Plus since late 2025.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - VR InterCity
A double-deck InterCity east along the Karelian line to Joensuu, gateway to Finland’s forested North Karelia.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - VR InterCity
The Savo line threads through Finland’s lake district to Kuopio, water rarely out of sight; InterCitys continue north to Iisalmi and Kajaani.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - InterCity
Into Finnish Lakeland by the tunnel-heavy Jämsä gorge cutoff, to Alvar Aalto’s university city among a thousand lakes.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - InterCity
Fourteen direct ICs a day to Finland’s sunniest city, down the Ostrobothnian flats to Vaasa and the UNESCO Kvarken archipelago.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - Tampere–Pori railway
Opened in 1895 and following the Kokemäenjoki river down to the Gulf of Bothnia, with only five intermediate stations in 132 km.
Wikipedia ↗ - Jyväskylä–Pieksämäki railway
Finnish 1,524 mm track through the lake country, one stop in 79 km between the junction town of Pieksämäki and Jyväskylä.
Wikipedia ↗ - Pieksämäki–Joensuu railway
Single track, unelectrified, running east through the Finnish lakes from the junction at Pieksämäki to Joensuu near the Russian border.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - Joensuu–Nurmes railway
Dm12 railbuses up the shore of Lake Pielinen: the rails carry on to Kontiomäki, but passenger trains have stopped at Nurmes since 1993.
- Oulu–Kontiomäki railway
166 km of single electrified track inland from Oulu on the Gulf of Bothnia to Kontiomäki, where five railways meet.
Wikipedia ↗ - Iisalmi–Ylivieska railway
Opened in 1923 as the cross-country link between Finland's Savonia and Ostrobothnia main lines, 154 km through the forests of Kainuu.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - Turku–Toijala railway
Finnish 1,524 mm gauge across Southwest Finland and Häme, joining the port of Turku to the Helsinki–Tampere main line at Toijala since 1876.
Wikipedia ↗ - Haapamäki–Seinäjoki railway
The middle section of the old Tampere–Vaasa railway of 1882, still carrying the diesel run west from the junction at Haapamäki.
Wikipedia ↗ - Tampere–Haapamäki railway
Opened in 1902 north from Tampere into the lake and forest country of central Finland, meeting the Vaasa and Jyväskylä lines at Haapamäki.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - Iisalmi–Kontiomäki railway
Opened in 1904 through the forests of Kainuu, the northern half of the Savonia route from Iisalmi up to the five-way junction at Kontiomäki.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - Riihimäki–Lahti railway
Opened in 1869 as the first stretch of the Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway, and still the connection from the Helsinki main line east to Lahti.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - Kouvola–Kotka railway
Opened in 1890 down the Kymi river to the Gulf of Finland, ending on the quays of the port of Kotka.
Wikipedia ↗ - Haapamäki–Jyväskylä railway
Single track east from the Haapamäki junction to Jyväskylä, opened in 1897 through the lakes of central Finland.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗ - Hanko line
Finland’s first private railway, opened in 1873 and paid for by St Petersburg merchants who wanted an ice free winter port: forty minutes down the branch from Karjaa to Hanko.
- Parikkala–Savonlinna railway
The Savonlinna line was built from Elisenvaara on the Karelian railway: Punkaharju was reached in November 1906 and the whole line on 1 February 1908; the junction it started from is now in Russia.
Wikipedia ↗
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Night train (2)
- Santa Claus Express
Rolls out of Helsinki by night and crosses into Lapland by morning: sleepers and car carriers bound for the Arctic Circle.
- VR Night Train
Finland’s northernmost railhead: an overnight car-carrier sleeper above the Arctic Circle to the fells of Ylläs and Levi.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗
Heritage (2)
- Jokioinen Museum Railway
The last stretch of Finland’s once-extensive 750 mm network, run by volunteers with steam engines from Finnish, German, Soviet and Belgian builders, veterans of the country’s vanished narrow-gauge lines.
Wikipedia ↗ - Porvoo Museum Railway
Summer museum trains out of Helsinki: a 1950s Dm7 “flat-hat” railbus leaves the main line at Kerava for the 1874 branch to Porvoo’s wooden old town.
Wikipedia (FI) ↗
Photos via Wikimedia Commons; each route page credits the author & licence
What is the fastest train in Finland?
The Rantarata Coastal Line, running Helsinki to Turku at up to 200 km/h. It is one of 25 routes in Finland in this atlas.
Are there night trains in Finland?
Yes, 2 sleeper services in this atlas serve Finland: Santa Claus Express (Helsinki – Rovaniemi), VR Night Train (Helsinki – Kolari).
Can you cross the border by train from Finland?
No route in this atlas crosses a land border out of Finland. Every line listed here begins and ends inside the country.
Which is the most scenic railway in Finland?
No line in Finland is classed scenic or mountain in this atlas; its 25 routes are everyday services rather than journeys taken for the view.