In the 19th century
Finland had an undeveloped primarily agricultural economy, the primary exports being forestry products, both timber and furs. Much of the transportation was conducted via waterways; Finland being a country of many lakes. However connecting the waterways system to the coast was problematic. had suggested constructing a horse-drawn railway from Helsinki to Turkhauta (in the municipality of
Janakkala).
Hämeenlinna to Helsinki line (1862) At that time in its history Finland was an autonomous Grand Duchy in
personal union with the Russian Empire (see
Grand Duchy of Finland) and subject to Russian influence, thus in 1849
Governor General Menshikov ordered the board of transportation (road and waterways) to investigate the construction of a railway connecting
Helsinki and
Hämeenlinna. The investigations took two years and it was decided to use locomotive traction, however construction was delayed due to the
Crimean War. Some opposed the very idea of the railways, The line was opened in 1862. The track was long, singled tracked and expected to carry one train a day. For more frequent services
passing loops could be used. No real progress was made until March 1867 when Finnish Senate proposed the construction of a link, in November 1867 the Tsar Alexander II gave a decree ordering its construction, stating that the link should be from
Riihimäki (a station on the Helsinki–Hämeenlinna line) to St. Petersburg, being favourable for transportation and trade as well as providing employment to many currently experiencing hardship due to the crop failure that caused the
Finnish famine of 1866–1868. Between Riihimäki and St. Petersburg the major stops were: Lahti,
Kausala,
Kouvola,
Luumäki,
Simola,
Viipuri (Vyborg),
Maaskola,
Terijoki (Zelenogorsk),
Valkeasaari (Beloostrov) and
Spasskaja The German firm
Siemens and Halske provided the telegraph communications The line works were split into five sections, the first completed was the Riihimäki to
Lahti section. The main opening ceremony was held in February 1870 when the St. Petersburg–Vyborg section was complete, at the famous
Finlyandsky Rail Terminal; itself being built specifically for the new line. The whole line was open by September 1870. The line was expected to profit from enormous amounts of freight bound for the port of
Hanko; however, three years earlier in 1870 the
Paldiski–Tallinn–St. Petersburg line was completed in Estonia, which competed. However the Finnish state gave priority to lines to Tampere and Lahti. Another attempt to gain funding was made in 1866, but this time the St. Petersburg line was given priority In 1871 the senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland granted permission for a line to be built. The shareholders included
Carl Eugen Åberg and
August Eklöf as well as Fredrik Sneckenström all of whom had investments in Porvoo. By 1874 the railway was complete and carrying goods. (Passenger traffic ceased in 1981, freight around 1990, the line has since been used for heritage trains,)
Tampere and Turku (1876) , Finland, celebrating the inauguration of the Hämeenlinna-Tampere railway in 1876. After connections from Helsinki to Hämeenlinna and St. Petersburg had been made connections to Finland's great cities of Turku (Swedish
Åbo) and Tampere (Swedish
Tammerfors) were next to get state approval. In 1874 lines were commissioned connecting Hämeenlinna to
Tampere (via Toijala), and
Toijala to
Turku which were open by 1876, extending the existing line from Helsinki to Hämeenlinna north and west, and making
Toijala railway station a major junction.
Tampere to Vaasa and the Ostrobothnian line (1883–1886) By 1883 the Tampere line had been extended over northwards via
Haapamäki and
Seinäjoki to
Vaasa.) from Seinäjoki to
Oulu via
Bennäs,
Kokkola and
Ylivieska was open by 1886 making
Seinäjoki railway station another major junction. From
Oulu railway station the line continued via
Tuira to the port of
Toppila (A suburb of Oulu) on a 5 km stretch of track, two other short lines were also opened: a port connection to the Kokkola suburb of
Ykspihlaja (5 km) and in 1887 to
Jakobstad (Finnish
Pietarsaari) from Bennas.) was built as a private enterprise to connect the coastal town of
Raahe to the Ostrobothnian line. The line to Raahe was open in 1899, and the extension to the docks of Raahe was complete by 1900. The main line ran from Lappi (now called Tuomioja) on the ostrobothnian line (between Kokkola and Oulu) to Raahe and was 18 km long.
Pieksämäki,
Suonenjoki to
Kuopio with a 6.7 spur line from Suonenjoki to
Iisvesi, the line was open by 1889.) line from Kouvola to the port town of
Kotka was commissioned, opening in 1890. The Savonian line was completed in 1902 with the continuation of the track from Kuopio to
Iisalmi (85 km); extensions to the Savonian line were opened in 1904 from Iisalmi with an 83 km track passing through
Murtomäki further north to
Kajaani. Thus by 1900
Kouvola railway station had become a major junction on the Finnish railway network with lines leading to St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Kotka, and to Savonia.
Karelian railway (1892–1895) Between 1892 and 1895 a series of lines known collectively as the Karelian railways (Finnish:
Karjalan rata) were built. The first line completed was the 72 km Viipuri (or
Vyborg) to
Imatra line via
Antrea (Kamennogorsk) in 1892. By 1893 an extension 139 km long from Antrea through
Hiitola,
Elisenvaara,
Jaakkima, and
Sortavala was complete. The final part of the line was from Sortavala though
Matkaselkä,
Värtsilä,
Onkamo and
Sulkuniemi to Joensuu was complete in 1894 adding another . Additionally in 1895 a short 6.75 km line from Imatra via
Tainionkoski to
Vuoksenniska (both suburbs of Imatra) was added.) was opened in 1897, with a line connecting Peipohja via
Kiukainen to
Rauma Haapamäki to Jyväskylä line (1897) By 1897
Haapamäki (on Tampere–Seinäjoki line) was connected to
Jyväskylä;
Finnish coastal railway (1899, 1903) By 1899 a line from
Karis near Helsinki to
Turku was constructed roughly following the south-western coast of Finland; this linked with Helsinki by 1903 once a railway between Karis and Pasila had been constructed. The network continued to expand; in addition to extensions to the Savonian line and the completion of the
rantarata by extension from Karis to Pasila, the Ostrobothnian line was extended by 1903 from Tuira which is next to the Swedish border. In 1909 the Lapland capital
Rovaniemi was connected to the rail network via
Kemi, the junction being at Laurila north of Kemi. Construction began in 1910; the bridge consisted of four tied-girder-truss-arch spans (
bowstring bridge), two on either side of a lifting bridge. Originally the bridge was called the Alexander I Bridge after
Alexander I of Russia, later in the 1910s it became known as the
Finlyandsky Railway Bridge. ==Rail in Finland during transition and civil war (1917–1918)==