VR and the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom have signed a tendered traffic agreement for passenger train services between Oulu, Tornio and Haaparanta. Daily operations will start on Monday, 10 August 2026 and 28 services will be operated weekly.
The traffic is mainly state-funded tendered traffic to improve train connections in Northern Finland. In addition to the state, the City of Tornio, the City of Oulu and the Sea Lapland Development Centre will participate in the financing of the connection. Traficom will add the train services to the current tendered traffic agreement between Traficom and VR.
The new route will open a completely new cross-border train connection between Finland and Sweden.
“At Traficom, we are pleased that we were able to open this new route and thus improve the service level of train traffic. We look forward to seeing how interesting the new route is going to be to passengers,” says Pipsa Eklund, Development Director at Traficom.
Starting the traffic has required close cooperation with the authorities of both countries regarding customs and border crossing practices and the technical details of rail traffic, among other things.
“The new route will open up connections between Finland and Sweden. For example, it will be much easier to travel between the university towns of Oulu and Luleå in the future, and it will be convenient to continue your journey from Oulu all the way to Helsinki. In December, the plan is to further improve transfer connections in Haaparanta, from where the trains of the Swedish Norrtåg operate to Luleå,” says Juho Hannukainen, Director of New Traffic at VR.
The municipalities are committed to financing the start of train traffic with their own contributions.
“The track connection is very significant regionally, as it will improve connections from Northern Finland to Sweden as well as to Norway. The start of the cross-border passenger train services will also be a significant factor in improving the connectivity of the cities of Tornio, Oulu and Haaparanta,” say Jukka Kujala, Mayor of Tornio, Ari Alatossava, Mayor of Oulu, and Sari Moisanen, Regional Manager of Sea Lapland.
Train tickets will be available from 30 June
There will be two daily services between Oulu and Haaparanta in both directions every day of the week. At the same time, passenger train services will return to the centre of Tornio for the first time in decades.
Train tickets for the route between Oulu and Haaparanta will be available from Tuesday, 30 June. Tickets and more detailed timetables are available via the trip search at vr.fi/en and in the VR Matkalla app.
You can find more information on the practices and instructions related to cross-border travel on VR’s website.
As the historic services start on Monday, 10 August, celebrations open for all will be organised at the railway stations along the route, with speeches, music and catering. The timetables of events:
- Tornio at 06:30–07:30 a.m.
- Haaparanta klo 5.45–6.20 a.m. (Swedish time)
- Oulu at 09:00–10:00 a.m.
Timetables (local time):
| Train | Operating days | Route |
| IC 401 | Mon–Sat | Oulu 05:08 a.m. → Haaparanta 05:45 a.m. |
| IC 403 | Sun | Oulu 06:50 a.m. → Haaparanta 07:45 a.m. |
| IC 407 | Mon–Sun | Oulu 07:50 p.m. → Haaparanta 08:30 p.m. |
| IC 402 | Mon–Sat | Haaparanta 06:20 a.m. → Oulu 09:00 a.m. |
| IC 404 | Sun | Haaparanta 08:54 a.m. → Oulu 11:32 a.m. |
| IC 408 | Mon–Sun | Haaparanta 08:45 p.m. → Oulu 11:20 p.m. |
Stopping areas: Oulu, Kemi, Tornio-Itäinen, Tornio, Haaparanta (Sweden)
Further information:
City of Tornio
Mayor Jukka Kujala
jukka.kujala@tornio.fi, tel. +358 40 132 0403
City of Oulu
Mayor Ari Alatossava
ari.alatossava@ouka.fi, tel. +358 40 615 8567
Sea Lapland Development Centre
Regional Manager Sari Moisanen
sari.moisanen@meri-lappi.fi, tel. +358 40 820 9584
Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom
Development Director Pipsa Eklund
pipsa.eklund@traficom.fi, tel. +358 29 534 5396
VR Communications
viestinta@vr.fi, tel. +358 29 434 7123