The Kouvola–Kotka railway ( fi, Kouvola–Kotka-rata, sv, Kouvola–Kotka-banan), also called the Kotka railway ( fi, Kotkan rata, sv, Kotkabanan) is a 1,524 mm (5 ft) railway in

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 ...

, connecting the towns of

Kouvola Kouvola () is a city and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lappeenranta and northeast of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is ...

and

Kotka Kotka (; ; la, Aquilopolis) is a city in the southern part of the Kymenlaakso province on the Gulf of Finland. Kotka is a major port and industrial city and also a diverse school and cultural city, which was formerly part of the old Kymi parish ...

in the region of

Kymenlaakso Kymenlaakso ( sv, Kymmenedalen; " Kymi/Kymmene Valley") is a region in Finland. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Päijät-Häme, South Savo and South Karelia and Russia (Leningrad Oblast). Its name means literally ''The Valley of River Kym ...

History

Kotka had begun growing into an industrial community from the 1850s. As the Kotka fortresses had been destroyed during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

and the islands of Kotkansaari and Hovinsaari fell out of military use, the Finnish state offered to lease out plots on the former for industrial use in 1868. The first industrial plot was awarded to Carl Henrik Ahlquist of Hamina, and the sawmill he constructed in collaboration with Hackman & Co started operations in 1871, marking the beginning of industrialization in Kotka. Talks regarding the construction of a branch of the

Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway The Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway is a long segment of the Helsinki–Saint Petersburg connection, which is divided between Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast in Russia and the province of Southern Finland in Finland. History It was co ...

to southern Kymenlaakso sprung up soon after the former's inauguration in September 1870. The first mayor of the town of Kotka, Oskar Backmann, proposed in 1880 the building of a railway to Kotka to ease the logistical issues between the town's harbour and inland Finland, while 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 Ri ...

debated the construction of a railway to Hillo or Nuottaniemi in Hamina. While the two port towns and their railway plans competed against each other, the consensus initially was that the branch was to begin from Kaipiainen in

Valkeala Valkeala is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland, and is a neighborhood of city of Kouvola, and it was a part of the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality had a population of 11,238 (2003) and cove ...

, as it was also planned to be the starting point of the

Savonia railway The Savonian railway ( fi, Savon rata, sv, Savolaxbanan) is a 5 ft and 1520 mm gauge railways, 1,524 mm (5 ft) railway in Finland. Beginning in Kouvola railway station, Kouvola, it connects southern Finland with the eastern Regions of Finland, r ...

to Kuopio. Later on, however,

Taavetti Taavetti (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Taavetti'', also ''Davidstad'') is a village and administrative center of the Luumäki municipality in South Karelia, Finland. It has a population of 2,084. It is located along Finnish national road 6, Highw ...

and

also became candidates for the southern terminus, and during its session in March 1887, the Diet made the decision to build the railway from Kouvola to Kuopio. Kotka started to overtake Hamina as the residential and economic center of southern Kymenlaakso starting from the 1870s. By 1882, the Kotka option had gained the backing of the Railway Committees of both the Diet and Senate of Finland, and during the 1888 session of the Diet, the decision to build the Kouvola–Kotka railway was made; it was opened for provisional traffic with celebrations in the summer of 1890, and was officially inaugurated in the fall. The double track section from Inkeroinen to Juurikorpi was opened for traffic on 29 October 1996. The project also included the replacement of the two last remaining

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

s on the section of track with overpasses.

Overview

The Kouvola–Kotka railway stretches approximately long; it is fully electrified, and consists of two tracks on the section from Kouvola to Juurikorpi and one track for from Juurikorpi to the Kotka harbour. Two freight-only lines branch off from the Kotka line: the Hamina railway splits off in Juurikorpi, while the private Karhula–Sunila siding begins in

Kymi Kymi may refer to: *Kymi, Greece, a town in Euboea, Greece *Kymi, Finland, a former municipality in Finland *Kymi (constituency), a constituency in the Finnish Parliament *Kymi (region), or ''Kymenlaakso'', the region of Finland *Kymi B.C., a basket ...

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 the

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...

service on the route Kouvola–Kotka Harbour; several of these services are operated from or proceed towards

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

as well. On the Kouvola–Kotka line, these services call in Myllykoski, Inkeroinen, Tavastila,

Kyminlinna Kyminlinna (literally, 'the castle of Kymi') is a fortress located in the northern part of island of Hovinsaari in Kotka, on the south coast of Finland. Kyminlinna is part of the South-Eastern Finland fortification system built by Russia afte ...

, Paimenportti and

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kouvola-Kotka railway Railway lines in Finland 5 ft gauge railways in Finland Railway lines opened in 1890