Oulu–Kontiomäki railway is a

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

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, ...

. The line is owned and maintained by the Finnish Rail Administration. It connects the city of

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

to , which is a junction of five railway lines in Paltamo municipality, approximately north from the city of

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 ...

. The line is single-tracked and electrified with a total length of . The traffic is controlled via centralized traffic control by the operator located in Oulu rail traffic control center at Oulu railway station. Starting from Oulu, the line extends eastward, generally following the southern bank of Oulu River until it reaches Vaala station, where the line crosses over the river. From thereon, the line runs on the north side of Lake Oulujärvi, only reaching the lakeshore briefly in Paltamo and following the north shore before reaching Kontiomäki station. The electrification was taken in commercial service on December 1, 2006, the power was turned on on October 1, 2006. First commercial electric-powered trains ran on November 1, 2006. The maximum allowed speed is in passenger service, and in freight service. Centralized traffic control installation was completed and taken in service in 1998.

Traffic

Traffic consists of a mixture of

passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

and

freight train A freight train, also called a goods train or cargo train, is a railway train that is used to carry cargo, as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion, along with one or more railroad ...

s. Most of the traffic is freight traffic originating at , (on ) and Vartius. The only operator is the national rail operator VR. There are eight daily passenger trains (four in each direction). The line is most noted for the presence of heavy

taconite Taconite () is a variety of banded iron formation, an iron-bearing (over 15% iron) sedimentary rock, in which the iron minerals are interlayered with quartz, chert, or carbonate. The name ''taconyte'' was coined by Horace Vaughn Winchell (1865– ...

unit trains. These trains originate in Kostomuksha,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and terminate in

Kokkola Kokkola (; , ) is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Central Ostrobothnia. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Kokkola is approximately , while the Kokkola sub-region, sub-region h ...

, where the ore is transloaded in to bulk ships. Previously taconite train also ran to Rautaruukki

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

in Raahe, but this traffic ceased early in 2007, when Rautaruukki decided to order the taconite from LKAB in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Other primary commodities carried on the line is timber and pulpwood.

History

The line was built in five sections over the course of four years. First segment to be taken in service was a line from

Vuokatti Vuokatti is an urban area that is a physically separate part of the municipality of Sotkamo, Finland. It is home to more than 6,000 inhabitants, making it the second most populous urban area in the region of Kainuu, after the main urban area of ...

to Paltamo via in 1926. After this eastern segment was built, a line east from Oulu to

Muhos Muhos is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of northern Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Oulu (province), Oulu half an hour's drive (35 km) on route 22 from the city of Oulu, the capital of Northern Finla ...

was taken in service in 1927, followed by

Utajärvi Utajärvi is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region next to the border of the Kainuu region, and is part of the former provinces of Finland, province of Oulu (pro ...

in 1928, and

Vaala Vaala () is a municipality in Finland. It is located in the North Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. Established in 1954 (predecessor municipality ''Säräisniemi'', established in 1867), the municipality has a population of () and covers ...

in 1929. The last segment, joining

with Paltamo was completed in 1930. On May 23, 1995, an avoiding line was taken in service at Kontiomäki. This enabled the traffic between Vartius and

to bypass the Kontiomäki station, without the need to perform run-around moves at Kontiomäki yard.

Connections with other lines

Oulu–Kontiomäki line connects with the and at

. At the line connects with two main lines: and , as well as with freight-only branch lines and .

External links

File:Railway station - Utajarvi Finland.jpg, in 2002 File:Taconite train 5053 at Hangas Oulu Finland.jpg, 5,200-ton

train at Hangas, near Pikkarala. File:Vaalankurkku railway bridge.jpg, Mist rising from Oulujoki river embraces the Vaalankurkku railway bridge near Vaala station. Railway lines in Finland Railway lines opened in 1926 5 ft gauge railways in Finland {{Railway lines in Finland