The Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway is a long segment of the

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

–

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

connection, which is divided between Saint Petersburg and

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast (, ; ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Russian census, 2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Russian census ...

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 the province of

Southern Finland Southern Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia. History On September 1, 1997 the Uusimaa Province, the Ky ...

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, ...

History

It was constructed in 1867–70 (starting from both ends), entirely by the government of the autonomous

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

that was controlled by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, although the short section between Saint Petersburg and

Beloostrov Beloostrov (; ; ), from 1922 to World War II Krasnoostrov (), is a administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, municipal settlement in Kurortny District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, R ...

(where Russian customs was situated in 1870–1939) was laid in Russia (

Saint Petersburg Governorate Saint Petersburg Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Saint Petersburg. The governorate was composed of of area and 2,112,033 inhabitants. It was bordered by Governorate of Estonia, Estonian and G ...

). The

Finlyandsky Rail Terminal St Petersburg–Finlyandsky (), also known as Finland Station () , is a railway station in St. Petersburg, Russia, handling transport to westerly destinations including Helsinki and Vyborg. The station is most famous for having been the l ...

was opened in Saint Petersburg in 1870 in order to serve this line. The rail link starts at the

Riihimäki railway station Riihimäki railway station (, ) is a railway station located in the town of Riihimäki, Finland. The Finnish Heritage Agency has classified Riihimäki railway station along with the nearby former residential area of railway workers called Rauta ...

of the Helsinki–Hämeenlinna connection, heading towards the Finlyandsky Railway Terminal of Saint Petersburg through

Lahti railway station The Lahti railway station (, ) is located in the city of Lahti in Finland. History During the planning stages of the Saint Petersburg railway, two track alignment options were weighed with regard to connecting the fledgling Finnish railways ...

Kouvola railway station The Kouvola railway station (, ) is located in the city of Kouvola in Finland. The Kouvola railway station is an important crossing point station. It is located about from the Helsinki Central railway station. There is also a bus terminal by t ...

, Vyborg railway station (formerly Viipuri/Viborg/Wiborg) and Zelenogorsk (formerly Terijoki). It wasn't until 1913 when the line became connected to the

Russian railways Russian Railways or RZD () is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services and has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel in Russia. ...

as the

Finland Railway Bridge The Finland Railway Bridge () is a pair of parallel rail bridges across the Neva River in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The movable bridges connect the Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg Railway and other railway networks in the north of St Petersburg w ...

across the

River Neva The Neva ( , ; , ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth-l ...

in Saint Petersburg was opened. Until 1917, when Finland became a fully independent state, the railroad had been operated by the

Finnish State Railways 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 ...

for all its length, including that section mentioned before. Due to the construction of the southern sections of the railroad, the western part of the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...

on both sides of the Russian-Finnish border became a popular ''

dacha A dacha (Belarusian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of former Soviet Union, post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ...

'' resort place among wealthy St. Petersburgers in the late nineteenth century. After the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

(1939–40) and

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

(1941–44), concluded with the

Moscow Peace Treaty The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War, upon which Finland ceded border areas to the Soviet Union. The ...

Moscow Armistice The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending the Continuation War. The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, with a number of modi ...

and

Paris Peace Treaty The Paris Peace Treaties () were signed on 10 February 1947 following the end of World War II in 1945. The Paris Peace Conference lasted from 29 July until 15 October 1946. The victorious wartime Allied powers (principally the United Kingdom, ...

, the

with the eastern part of the railroad (from Louko (Pogranitshnoye) to Rajajoki (western part of

Sestroretsk Sestroretsk (; ; ) is a municipal town in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, the Sestra River and the Sestroretskiy Lake northwest of St. Petersburg. Po ...

)) was ceded by Finland to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The railway stations Louko (Pogranitshnoye) and Rajajoki were abandoned by Russians. In 2006, the high-speed railway from

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

Kerava Kerava (; ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Kerava is situated in the centre of the Uusimaa region. The population of Kerava is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality ...

was opened, and that cut half an hour off the travel time from Helsinki. In 2010, the speed was raised to 200 km/h most of the distance Lahti–St Petersburg. The freight traffic will be later moved to another upgraded railway, Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad. This and the introduction of high-speed trains of type Sm6 cut the travel time by two hours to about 3:30. The railway upgrade cost in Finland was €244M, with an EU contribution of €23M. The international high-speed train

Allegro Allegro may refer to: Common meanings * Allegro (music), a tempo marking that indicates to playing quickly and brightly (from Italian meaning ''cheerful'') * Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement Artistic works * L'Allegro (1645), a poem b ...

(

Karelian Trains Oy Karelian Trains Ltd was a joint venture agreed on 23 November 2006 between Russian Railways (RZhD) and VR Group (Finnish Railways) to facilitate the operation of international express passenger rail services between Helsinki, Finland, and Saint ...

, Helsinki–St. Petersburg) and the sleeper train Tolstoy (Russian Railways, Moscow–St. Petersburg–Helsinki) run daily on this route between Hakosilta and Finlyandsky Rail Terminal. The Russian part of the railroad is used by suburban trains (''

elektrichka An ''elektrichka'' ( ; , ) is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Eastern Bloc, Eastern bloc commuter (regional) mostly suburban electrical multiple unit passenger train. Elektrichkas are widespread in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former W ...

s'') of the Finlyandsky Rail Terminal with their final destinations at Zelenogorsk,

Roshchino Roshchino () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Modern localities ;Urban localities * Roshchino, Leningrad Oblast, an urban-type settlement under the administrative jurisdiction of Roshchinskoye Settlement Municipal Formation ...

, Kanneljärvi, Kirillovskoye, Gavrilovo (Kämärä) or

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

, as well as elektrichkas Vyborg– Buslovskaya (Houni). The railroad is connected to the Vyborg–Joensuu railroad at Vyborg, to a number of tracks, including the Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad, at the Finlyandsky Rail Terminal of St. Petersburg, and also has links to Kerava from Hakosilta, to Vesijärvi, Loviisa and Heinola from Lahti, to Kotka and Mikkeli from Kouvola, to Joensuu from Luumäki, to

Primorsk Primorsk may refer to: * Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast, a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, formerly Koivisto or Björkö * Primorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, an urban-type settlement in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, formerly Fischhausen * Primorsk, Krasno ...

(Koivisto) from Lazarevka (Liimatta) and Zelenogorsk (Terijoki), to

Veshchevo Veshchevo (; ) is a rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, and a station of the Vyborg– Zhitkovo railroad. The railway track between Veshchevo and Zhitkovo was, however, dismantled in 2001. Until th ...

(Heinjoki) (and earlier as far as to

Zhitkovo Zhitkovo (; ) is a settlement on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast. It was known as Ristseppälä until 1948. It was a station of the Vyborg–Veshchevo–Zhitkovo– Michurinskoye railroad constructed by Finland ...

(Ristseppälä) and Michurniskoye (Valkjärvi) from Lazarevka and with Sestroretsk from Beloostrov and Lanskaya. Besides, the line has also a number of short blind branches. As the Russian part of the tracks is planned to be renovated to handle high-speed international trains (see

) and to be used exclusively for passenger traffic, the cargo traffic (mostly lumber, granite rubble, oil) is expected to be switched to the Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad. As of 2022, there are no trains direct between Russia and Finland due to strained relations with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

in the wake of

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Stations

International train stops are bolded. Former names (most of the stations ceded to the Soviet Union were renamed in 1948), distance (from Riihimäki for the Finnish part and from St. Petersburg for the Russian part), and suburban tariff zones (for the Russian part) are given in brackets.

Finland

(0 km, links to Helsinki and Hämeenlinna) : Hikiä railway station (8 km) : Oitti railway station (15 km) : Mommila railway station (20 km) : Lappila railway station (26 km) :

Järvelä railway station The Järvelä railway station (, ) is located in Kärkölä, Finland, in the municipal seat and urban area of Järvelä, Kärkölä, Järvelä. It is located along the Riihimäki–Lahti line, and its neighboring stations are Lappila railway stat ...

(32 km) : Herrala railway station (44 km) :

(63 km, links to Vesijärvi, Loviisa, Heinola and Kerava) :

Nastola railway station The Nastola railway station (Finnish language, Finnish: ''Nastolan rautatieasema'', Finland-Swedish, Swedish language: ''Nastola järnvägsstation'') is located in the city of Lahti (formerly the municipality of Nastola) in the Päijänne Tavasti ...

(79 km) : Uusikylä railway station (82 km) : Mankala railway station (93 km) :

Kausala railway station The Kausala railway station (, ) is located in the municipality of Iitti, Finland, in the urban area and municipal seat of Kausala. It is located along the Lahti–Kouvola railway, and its neighboring stations are Uusikylä in the west and Kor ...

(99 km) :

Koria railway station The Koria railway station (, ) is located in the town of Kouvola, Finland, in the urban area and district of Koria. It is located along the Lahti–Kouvola railway, and its neighboring stations are Kausala in the west and Kouvola in the east. ...

(115 km) :

(121 km, links to Kotka and Mikkeli) : Utti railway station (123 km) : Kaipiainen railway station (133 km) :

Taavetti railway station Taavetti (; 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 Highway 6 between Lappeenranta and Kouvola, and ...

(156 km) : Luumäki railway station (168 km, link to Joensuu) : Pulsa railway station (178 km) : Simola railway station (188 km) :

Vainikkala railway station Vainikkala is a small village of approximately 400 inhabitants in South Karelia, Eastern Finland. It is part of the Lappeenranta municipality and is located about south of the city centre. Vainikkala is right on the Finnish border with Russia a ...

Leningrad Oblast (Finland before WWII)

:Louko (Pogranitshnoye), doesn't exist now)) :Buslovskaya (Houni) :(Hämee, doesn't exist now) :Luzhayka (Nurmi, zone 15) :144th km :Kravtsovo (Hovinmaa, zone 14) :138th km : Prigorodnaya (Tienhaara, zone 14) :(Ykspää, doesn't exist now) :Khiyetala (Hietala, doesn't exist now) :(Sorvali, doesn't exist now) :134th km :(Saunalahti, doesn't exist now) :(Hiekka (Peski, Vyborgsky District), doesn't exist now) :(Linnansaari, doesn't exist now) :(Kirkkosaari, doesn't exist now) : Vyborg railway station (Viipuri, zone 13, connected to the Vyborg–Joensuu railroad) :Lazarevka (Liimatta, zone 13, links to Primorsk and Veshchevo) :Verkhne-Cherkasovo (Säiniö, zone 13) :117th km (zone 12) :Lebedevka (Honkaniemi, zone 12) :Gavrilovo (Kämärä, zone 12) :

Leypyasuo Leypyasuo (; ) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, and a station of the Saint Petersburg–Vyborg railway, located on the Karelian Isthmus. Within the framework of municipal divisions, it is a part of ...

(Leipäsuo, earlier Äyräpää (1918–1920) and Galitzina (before 1917), zone 11) : Kirillovskoye (Perkjärvi, zone 10) :(Sykjärvi, doesn't exist now) :Zakhodskoye (Lounatjoki, zone 9) :

Pobeda, Leningrad Oblast Pobeda (; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District, Leningrad Oblast, Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, served by the station Kanneljärvi of the Saint Petersburg–Vyborg ra ...

(Kanneljärvi, zone 9) :Shevelyovo (zone 9) :Gorkovskoye (Mustamäki, zone 8) :63rd km (zone 7) :

(Raivola, zone 7)

Saint Petersburg (Finland before WWII)

:Ushkovo (Tyrisevä, zone 7) : Zelenogorsk (Terijoki, zone 6, link to Primorsk) :

Komarovo Komarovo may refer to: *Komarovo, Saint Petersburg, a municipal settlement under jurisdiction of Saint Petersburg, Russia * Komarovo, Novgorod Oblast, a former urban-type settlement in Novgorod Oblast; since 1998—a village (''selo'*Komarovo, name ...

(Kellomäki, zone 5) :(Kanerva, doesn't exist now) :

Repino Repino () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Modern localities ;Urban localities *Repino, Saint Petersburg, a municipal settlement in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg ;Rural localities * Repino, Ch ...

(Kuokkala, zone 5) :Solnechnoye (Ollila, zone 5) :(Rajajoki, doesn't exist now)

Saint Petersburg

(zone 4, link to Sestroretsk) :Dibuny (zone 3) :Pesochnaya (formerly Grafskaya, zone 3) : Levashovo (zone 3) :Pargolovo (zone 3, link to the Murino station of the Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad) :Shuvalovo (zone 2) :Ozerki (zone 2) :Udelnaya (zone 2) : Lanskaya (zone 1, link to Sestroretsk) :Saint Petersburg –

(zone 0, connection to the Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad and other railroads in Russia)

Electrification

*Finlyandsky Rail Terminal–Zelenogorsk – 1951 *Zelenogorsk–Ushkovo – 1952 *Ushkovo–Roshchino – 1954 *Roshchino–Kirillovskoye – 1968 *Kirillovskoye–Vyborg – 1969 *Vyborg–Luzhayka – 1977 *International connection – 1978

References

External links

130 лет. Поездом от Хельсинки до Санкт-ПетербургаИстория. 1870–1918 годыЖелезные дороги Карельского перешейка

Pietarin rata toi Lahdelle menestyksen eväät
– ''

Etelä-Suomen Sanomat (meaning ''South Finland News'' in English; nickname ''Etlari'') is a Finnish daily newspaper published in Lahti, Finland. It is the leading paper in its metropolitan area.

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Riihimaki - Saint Petersburg Railway Railway lines in Finland Cross-border railway lines in Finland Railway lines in Russia Cross-border railway lines in Russia Rail transport in Leningrad Oblast Railway lines opened in 1870 International railway lines 5 ft gauge railways in Finland Oktyabrskaya Railway Kurortny District