The Savo railway (; ) is a five-foot-gauge (1,524 mm) railway in Finland. Beginning at

Kouvola Kouvola () is a city in Finland and the administrative capital of Kymenlaakso. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country. The population of Kouvola is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the 17th m ...

, it connects southern

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

with the eastern regions of

South Savo South Savo (or Southern Savonia; ; ) is a region in the south-east of Finland. It borders the regions of North Savo, North Karelia, South Karelia, Kymenlaakso, Päijät-Häme, and Central Finland. The total area of South Savo is 18,768.33 km ...

and

North Savo North Savo (or Northern Savonia; ; ) is a Regions of Finland, region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of South Savo, Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the region and Kallavesi, ...

via the cities of

Pieksämäki Pieksämäki () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region, about north of Mikkeli, east of Jyväskylä and south of Kuopio. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water ...

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

and

Iisalmi Iisalmi (; ) is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality in the regions of Finland, region of Northern Savonia in Finland. It is located north of Kuopio and south of Kajaani. The municipality has a population of (), ...

History

Plans to build a railway through

Savo Savo may refer to: Languages * Savo dialect, forms of the Finnish language spoken in Savo, Finland * Savo language, an endangered language spoken on Savo People * Savo (given name), a masculine given name from southern Europe (includes a list of ...

began in the 1870s. The alignment of the line was controversial and several different versions were proposed. Initially, the construction of a west–east line was proposed, but soon a south–north alignment was settled on. Various plans for the direction of the line included Taavetti–

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; ; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, city in, and the regional capital of, South Savo, Finland, located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population is approximately , while the Mikkeli sub-region of Southern Savonia has a populat ...

–

Kangasniemi Kangasniemi is a municipality in the Southern Savonia regions of Finland, region, Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Kangasniemi is located on the Highways in ...

–

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

, Taavetti–Mikkeli–

Varkaus Varkaus, before 1929 known as Warkaus, is a Middle- Savonian industrial town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region, between the city of Kuopio and the town of ...

–

and Kaipiainen–Mikkeli–

Suonenjoki Suonenjoki (; literally means "vein's river") is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region, southwest of Kuopio. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population d ...

–Kuopio, among others. On 17 April 1885, the

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

decided to build the line via

, Mikkeli,

and Suonenjoki to Kuopio. Construction of the line began in 1886; the size of the workforce peaked at 10,000 people. The section first completed was the one between the stations of

and

in 1888, but the Senate did not give permission for traffic to begin. The entire railway was inaugurated on 1 October 1889. The line was effectively extended towards the southern coast the following year upon the completion of the Kouvola–Kotka railway. In 1900, the Diet made the decision to extend the Savo line from Kuopio via

Kajaani Kajaani (; ), is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Kainuu. Kajaani is located southeast of Oulujärvi, Lake Oulu, which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulujoki, Oulu River. The population of Kajaani is approximately , w ...

. One of the largest construction projects was the bridge and embankment connection over river

Kallavesi Kallavesi is a medium-sized lake in Northern Savonia, eastern Finland located around the town of Kuopio. Combined with the lakes Suvasvesi, Juurusvesi–Akonvesi, Muuruvesi, Melavesi, and Riistavesi Kallavesi forms an lake system named ...

, the . Traffic to

started on 1 July 1902 and traffic to

started on 16 October 1904. In 1960, a 15-year overhaul of the Savo line began, including the straightening of various notable curves, which resulted in a straighter line and higher speeds. The railway was effectively rebuilt from the ground up at points. The most significant jobs were carried out between Kouvola and Mikkeli and

and Kuopio. The first major change was the straightening of the very first curve of the line in Kouvola, and major curve corrections were made at Vuohijärvi, Hillosensalmi, Suonenjoki station and Kurkimäki and Pitkälahti in Kuopio, among others. Many of the corrections involved construction of tunnels and excavation of bedrock.

Services

VR Group VR-Group Plc (, ), 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 commuter rail services every day. With ...

operates long-distance services with

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

and

Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian language, Italian "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of high-speed tilting trains (and non-tilting) used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic, ...

type rolling stock on the Savo railway.VR long-distance traffic timetable for the period 16 August−11 December 2021
/ref>

References

Notes

External links

* {{Railway lines in Finland Railway lines in Finland 5 ft gauge railways in Finland Railway lines opened in 1889

History

Services

See also

References

Notes

External links