Itärata ( en, East Rail) is a proposed railway line in the planning stage to provide a more direct connection between

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

and

Kouvola Kouvola () is a city and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lappeenranta and northeast of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

than the current route via Kerava and

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

History

Plans for a railway line to run east of Helsinki to the Russian border, passing through

Sipoo Sipoo (; sv, Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The administrative center of the munic ...

Porvoo Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...

Kotka Kotka (; ; la, Aquilopolis) is a city in the southern part of the Kymenlaakso province on the Gulf of Finland. Kotka is a major port and industrial city and also a diverse school and cultural city, which was formerly part of the old Kymi parish ...

and Hamina (known as "HELI-rata" in Finnish) were agreed in principle by Uusimaa Regional Council in 2010. The line would run through a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

Pasila railway station Pasila station ( fi, Pasilan rautatieasema, sv, Böle järnvägstation; previous Swedish name was ''Fredriksberg'' until 1990) is a railway station in Helsinki, Finland, approximately north of Helsinki Central. It is the second busiest railway ...

and

Helsinki Airport Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...

before following the route of the

Finnish national road 7 Finnish national road 7 ( fi, Valtatie 7; sv, Riksväg 7) is a highway in Finland. It runs from Erottaja in Helsinki to the Russian frontier at the Vaalimaa border crossing point in Virolahti. The road is long. The road is also European route ...

to St Petersburg. In 2018, a study was commissioned into the construction of a new rail line from Helsinki to

via Kerava and

, reducing the Helsinki to Kouvola travel time from 1 hour 18 minutes to 53 minutes. This new line would use the proposed Lentorata route between Helsinki and Kerava. With a line speed, the journey time for Helsinki-St Petersburg services could be reduced by nine minutes. A 15-minute reduction could be achieved if the infrastructure was built for operation. At a cost of €1.7 billion, it was not determined to be economically feasible by former Finnish transport minister

Anne Berner Anne-Catherine Berner (born 16 January 1964) is a Swiss-Finnish business executive, board professional, and the former Minister of Transport and Communications. In 2015, Berner was elected Member of the Finnish Parliament from the electoral distr ...

, in spite of Porvoo's status as the largest Finnish municipality without a scheduled rail service; along with the significantly reduced travel times the line would bring to eastern Finnish cities including

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, and ...

, Kuopio,

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. The ...

and

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34,000 ...

, which currently use the Kerava–Lahti railway line. In 2019, the government of Antti Rinne confirmed commitment to advancing proposals for this line. On 21 January 2021, the Finnish Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy has decided to support the continuation of project company negotiations on the basis of the Lentorata-Porvoo-

policy, the Government press release states. Negotiations are ongoing with the municipalities and possibly other public entities benefiting from the railway line to establish a project company. The task of the project company would be to plan the project and finance it until it is ready for construction.

Benefits

Itärata is said to affect the lives of 2 million Finns, almost half the Finnish population, by bringing them closer to the capital by rail. Travel times of three hours are expected between Helsinki and Kuopio, Joensuu and St Petersburg. Studies suggest that Itärata would generate a further 2.8 million rail trips annually. Porvoo, with a population of around 50,000, is the largest municipality in Finland without a scheduled railway service, and would gain a station on the new line allowing a 33-minute travel time to Helsinki.

References

External links

Itärata (in Finnish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Itarata Railway lines in Finland Proposed railway lines in Finland 5 ft gauge railways in Finland

History

Benefits

See also

References

External links