Finland's railways and locomotives on the map

Railways arrived in Finland

Finland's first railway, the line between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, was completed in 1862. It opened up internal connections in a new way and launched decades of railway network construction that gradually extended from the coast eastward and northward. Stations were often built according to the architecture of their time, and many have survived to today either in use or as protected attractions.

From steam locomotives to museum sites

In the early years of the railways, traffic was powered by steam locomotives. For example, 67 Tr1-class heavy freight locomotives were built between 1940 and 1957, but these types of locomotives were taken out of service in the early 1970s as diesel rolling stock took over. Decommissioned locomotives have since been preserved and restored in museums, locomotive depots and city squares as memorials.

The most interesting sites

The Finnish Railway Museum in Hyvinkää is the national authority museum for railway traffic: the exhibition space covers around 5,000 square metres, and on display are ten steam locomotives, including the country's oldest surviving locomotive from 1868. The museum was originally founded in Helsinki in 1898 and moved to Hyvinkää in 1973–1974. In Haapamäki in Keuruu, steam locomotives have been assembled into a theme park, and in Porvoo a heritage railway carries passengers along an old railway line. The 14-kilometre narrow-gauge heritage railway running through Jokioinen and Humppila operates on 750-millimetre gauge, less than half the width of the national railway network. In Toijala in Akaa, the locomotive museum's collection includes 13 restored locomotives and carriages, and in Salo an old locomotive shed built in 1898–1899 now serves as the city's art museum. Additionally, in municipalities such as Mänttä-Vilppula and Raasepori, individual station buildings and memorial locomotives recall the region's railway past.

Where railway history is most visible

The sites are most concentrated on the old railway sections in southern and western Finland, such as in Pirkanmaa and Häme, where stations, locomotive museums and memorials cluster close together. Individual memorial locomotives are found throughout the country, however, reaching as far as Vaala, Kuhmo and Savukoski, which tells of the railway network's former wide extent. Many old railway beds live on as cycling and walking routes:

• In Karijoki, a 7-kilometre fitness route of gravel surface is free to use on the old railway bed.
• In Keuruu, the "Sandy tracks to Haapamäki" route follows the old railway line for 31 kilometres.
• In Pirkkala, the route on the former railway bed along Linnakalliontie is 1.4 kilometres long.
• In Saarijärvi, the multipurpose route of the station yard shortcut runs for one kilometre.

Before you go

Museums and heritage railways often operate on a seasonal basis, so it is worth checking opening times and operating days in advance. The park railway in Hyvinkää, for example, is used in summer and on event days. Old railway bed cycling and walking routes, on the other hand, are open year-round and mostly free. Memorial locomotives standing at market squares and stations are on display outdoors at all times, so you can visit them spontaneously along your route.