Riihimäki–Tampere railway is a

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

running between 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 ...

and the

Tampere railway station Tampere Central Station is a Functionalism (architecture), functionalist building in Tampere, Finland, designed by Eero Seppälä and Otto Flodin, completed in 1936. The station is one of the most important railway stations in Finland. In 2015, t ...

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, ...

, and it is part of the

Finnish Main Line __NOTOC__ The Finnish Main Line (; ) is a long electrified group of railway lines in Finland between the cities of Helsinki and Oulu. The first segment, a line from Helsinki to Hämeenlinna, was opened on March 17, 1862. The railway serves Hel ...

. The line between

Riihimäki Riihimäki (; ) is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to Helsinki, Tampere and La ...

and

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; ; ; or ''Croneburgum'') is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Kanta-Häme. It is located in the southern interior of the country and on the shores of Vanajavesi, Lake Vanajavesi. The population of Hämeenlinna is appr ...

was opened in 1862 as a part of the Finland's first railway between

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 ...

and Hämeenlinna, and the line between Riihimäki and

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

in 1876.

Services

Commuter trains

Certain services of the

VR commuter rail VR commuter rail (, ) is a Finland, Finnish Regional rail, commuter rail system operated by VR Group, VR – the Railway company, national railway operator of Finland – under a public service obligation agreement with the Ministry of Transport ...

lines and operate in part on the Riihimäki–Tampere section. Line starts from either Toijala or

, and then proceeds towards

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

on the

Tampere–Pori railway The Tampere–Pori railway is a railway running between the cities of Tampere and Pori in Finland. The line carries passenger traffic from Tampere to Pori via five railway stations and continues as a freight line to the Port of Pori. Tampere–Po ...

. All stations on the section are served by its commuter trains.

Long-distance trains

Being part of the ''päärata'', the Riihimäki–Tampere section is a core part of long-distance transport in Finland. After Riihimäki and possibly making stops at

, Toijala and

Lempäälä Lempäälä () is a municipality in Finland, located in the Pirkanmaa region. It lies south of the regional capital, Tampere. The population of Lempäälä is approximately , while the Tampere metropolitan area, metropolitan area has a population ...

, having reached Tampere trains will proceed towards either

Pori Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...

through western

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; ; ), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and Southwest Finland. Most of the wate ...

and

Satakunta Satakunta (in both Finnish language, Finnish and Swedish language, Swedish, ; historically ''Satacundia'') is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) of Finland, part of the former Western Finland Province. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland ...

, toward Ostrobothnia on the Tampere–Seinäjoki railway, or towards

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 ...

Central Finland Central 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, North Savo, and Southern Savonia, South S ...

via

Jämsä Jämsä () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about southwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the second most populous town of the Central Finland after ...

. In addition, Toijala is one of the termini of the Turku–Toijala railway. The termini of the routes that pass through the Riihimäki–Tampere line include

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; , formerly ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Ostrobothnia. Seinäjoki is located in the western interior of the country and along the Seinäjoki (river), River Seinäjoki. The population of Sein ...

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Ylivieska Ylivieska () is a List of towns in Finland, town and Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Northern Ostrobothnia region, Finland. It has a population of (), and it serves as the administrative centre for Kalajokilaakso and Pyhäjokilaakso, a ...

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 ...

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland (Finland), Lapland. It is located near the Arctic Circle in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately , while the Rovaniemi su ...

, Kemijärvi and Jyväskylä.

Future plans

As part of ongoing proposals for

high-speed rail in Finland Although Finland has no dedicated high-speed rail lines, sections of its rail network are capable of running speeds of up to . The Finnish national railway company VR operates tilting Alstom Pendolino trains. The trains reach their maximum speed ...

, the Riihimäki-Tampere railway may be upgraded for higher average speed, or a brand new line constructed parallel to the existing line.

References

Railway lines in Finland Railway lines opened in 1862 Railway lines opened in 1876 {{Railway lines in Finland