Kolari railway
Encyclopedia
The Kolari railway is the northernmost railway in Finland
and goes between Tornio
and Kolari
. It is 186 km (116 mi) long. The railway is not electrified and it has Finnish broad gauge
. It connects to the Oulu–Tornio railway in Tornio
.
It was built in 1928 the first 79 kilometres (49.1 mi) Tornio–Kaulinranta and in 1967 the remaining 123 kilometres (76.4 mi) to Kolari. There are two mine railway
s, both 20 kilometres (12.4 mi), north of Kolari to the mines of Rautuvaara and Äkäsjokisuu. These mines were the primary reason to extend the railway north of Kaulinranta. There were in 2009-2010 short term plans to extend the railway 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Äkäsjokisuu to the new Tapuli mine in Sweden, but the mining company decided to use Narvik as shipping port instead.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and goes between Tornio
Tornio
Tornio is a town and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. The population density is , with a total population of . It borders to the Swedish municipality of Haparanda...
and Kolari
Kolari
Kolari is a municipality of Finland at the Swedish border, which follows the Torne River, the longest free-flowing river in Europe.It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is...
. It is 186 km (116 mi) long. The railway is not electrified and it has Finnish broad gauge
Russian gauge
In railway terminology, Russian gauge refers to railway track with a gauge between 1,520 mm and . In a narrow sense as defined by Russian Railways it refers to gauge....
. It connects to the Oulu–Tornio railway in Tornio
Tornio
Tornio is a town and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. The population density is , with a total population of . It borders to the Swedish municipality of Haparanda...
.
It was built in 1928 the first 79 kilometres (49.1 mi) Tornio–Kaulinranta and in 1967 the remaining 123 kilometres (76.4 mi) to Kolari. There are two mine railway
Mine railway
A mine railway is a railway constructed to carry materials and workers in and out of a mine. Materials transported typically include ore, coal and spoil. Today most mine railways are electrically powered; in former times pit ponies, such as Shetland ponies, were used to haul the trains...
s, both 20 kilometres (12.4 mi), north of Kolari to the mines of Rautuvaara and Äkäsjokisuu. These mines were the primary reason to extend the railway north of Kaulinranta. There were in 2009-2010 short term plans to extend the railway 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Äkäsjokisuu to the new Tapuli mine in Sweden, but the mining company decided to use Narvik as shipping port instead.