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 Finnish National Infrastructure and International Connections Finland has a relatively modest, if not backward, railroad infrastructure due to low investment rate into infrastructure and punishing winters which mean that the infra will need to be created much stronger for the climate than is necessary in much of the rest of the world. Even with the lack of money however, there is something under rebuilding or construction much of the time. Finnish railroad infrastructure has developed in the recent years especially with additions to 3 categories: 1) Upgrades and new track for High speed Rail 2) Helsinki Metropolitan area rail upgrades and additions to the network 3) Freight railroad additions and upgrades The money spent on infrastructure projects is minimal compared to any of the neighboring developed countries or Russia. The lack of money means heavy congestion on local traffic every_single_day at Helsinki station, falling down old train control systems without backup available and also discussion about closing down some of the networks with just minimal traffic. International connections of Finnish networks are inadequate due to geography: to south and west the connections are limited by seas, and only one ferry connection to Central Europe exists for the moment. Connections to the north west to Sweden are poor since the neighbors don't share a common gauge, change between Finnish 1524mm (5 ft) and Swedish 1435mm (normal gauge, 4' 8,5") would be necessary when crossing deeper into Sweden from the immediate border area in Haaparanta. Existing connections are only available to east to Russia and the crossing is available in Imatra and Vainikkala for freight and Vainikkala also for passenger traffic. There has also been real discussion on building a tunnel to Estonia and Sweden. These tunnels would create an overwhelming competitive edge with its normal gauge and direct connection to the Central Europe with a bridge + tunnel. A similar project in Southern Sweden in malmö area proved to be an enornmous success once completed 10 years ago.  Picture: One of the ferries enabling the connection from Finland to rest of the Europe is this Tallink Super Fast Ferry carrying cars and passengers from the Finnish southern coast in 24 hours to German north coast.  To the top of the page
Finnish National Infrastructure Projects and Plans | ||