Sweden soon reachable from Finland by train – traffic to Haparanda begins in August
Daily operations will start on Monday, 10 August 2026 and 28 services will be operated weekly. The new route will open a completely new cross-border train connection between Finland and Sweden.
The new route will open up connections between Finland and Sweden. For example, it will be much easier to travel between the university towns of Oulu and Luleå in the future, and it will be convenient to continue your journey from Oulu all the way to Helsinki. In December, the plan is to further improve transfer connections in Haaparanta, from where the trains of the Swedish Norrtåg operate to Luleå.
The track connection is very significant regionally, as it will improve connections from Northern Finland to Sweden as well as to Norway. The start of the cross-border passenger train services will also be a significant factor in improving the connectivity of the cities of Tornio, Oulu and Haaparanta.
Train tickets will be available from 30 June
There will be two daily services between Oulu and Haaparanta in both directions every day of the week. At the same time, passenger train services will return to the centre of Tornio for the first time in decades.
Train tickets for the route between Oulu and Haaparanta will be available from Tuesday, 30 June. Tickets and more detailed timetables are then available via the trip search at vr.fi/en, Opens in a new tab and in the VR Matkalla app.
You can find more information on the practices and instructions related to cross-border travel on our Haaparanta page.
Timetables (in local time):
- IC 401, Mon–Sat, Oulu 05:08 → Haaparanta 05:45
- IC 403, Sun, Oulu, 06:50 → Haaparanta 07:45
- IC 407, Mon–Sun, Oulu 19:50 → Haaparanta 20:30
- IC 402, Mon-Sat, Haaparanta 06:20 → Oulu 09:00
- IC 404, Sun, Haaparanta 08:54 → Oulu 11:32
- IC 408, Mon–Sun, Haaparanta 20:45 → Oulu 23:20
Stops: Oulu, Kemi, Tornio-Itäinen, Tornio, Haaparanta (Sweden)
