The Haapamäki–Seinäjoki railway is a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

running between the

Haapamäki railway station Haapamäki railway station (abbrev. Hpk, ) is a junction station in the village of Haapamäki, in Keuruu, Finland. Construction on the railway line from Tampere to Seinäjoki via Haapamäki was finished in 1882. When the railway line to Jyväskyl ...

and the

Seinäjoki railway station The Seinäjoki railway station ( fi, Seinäjoen rautatieasema) is located in the centre of city of Seinäjoki, Finland, at Valtionkatu 1. The current station building was built in the 1970s, and it is located in the same building as the bus statio ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It is part of the historical

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

–

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

railway; its other segments as known today include Tampere–Haapamäki and Seinäjoki–Vaasa.

Overview

The Haapamäki–Seinäjoki railway stretches approximately long, connecting the regions of

Central Finland Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomi; sv, Mellersta Finland) is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia, No ...

and

South Ostrobothnia South Ostrobothnia ( fi, Etelä-Pohjanmaa; sv, Södra Österbotten) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South O ...

. It consists of one track for its entire length, and is unelectrified.

History

The construction of the Tampere–Vaasa railway became relevant towards the end of the 1870s. In 1877-1878, the line was confirmed, and the formal decision to build the line was made during the concurrent session of the

Diet of Finland The Diet of Finland (Finnish ''Suomen maapäivät'', later ''valtiopäivät''; Swedish ''Finlands Lantdagar''), was the legislative assembly of the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906 and the recipient of the powers of the Swedish Riksda ...

. The construction was initiated in 1879; the section between

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

and

Alavus Alavus ( sv, Alavo) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, southeast of Seinäjoki, north of Tampere and north of Helsinki. The town has a populat ...

was opened for provisional traffic on 10 November 1882, and the Tampere–Alavus segment followed on November 22. In September 1883, the railway was formally inaugurated and transferred under the ownership of the Railway Administration.

Services

VR Group VR-Group Plc ( fi, VR-Yhtymä Oyj, sv, VR-Group Abp), commonly known as VR, is a government-owned railway company in Finland. VR's most important function is the operation of Finland's passenger rail services with 250 long-distance and 800 co ...

operates two daily regional train services in each direction on the route

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

–Seinäjoki, as well as two additional services per direction between Seinäjoki and

Ähtäri Ähtäri ( sv, Etseri) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Ähtäri is located southeast of ...

. On the Haapamäki–Seinäjoki line, these services call in Pihlajavesi, Myllymäki, Eläinpuisto-Zoo, Ähtäri,

Tuuri Tuuri is a village in Alavus, a town of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The village has a population of 500. In Modern Finnish the appellative ''tuuri'' means 'luck'. Th ...

and Alavus.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haapamaki-Seinajoki railway Railway lines in Finland 5 ft gauge railways in Finland Railway lines opened in 1882