My first guess, and the apparent reason for doing this is simple. Russian trains can currently run right into Finland, and this change will stop that route of invasion.
“Finland’s track gauge is the same as Russia’s was in the late 19th and early 20th century— 1,524mm — which is 89mm wider than the European standard.”
I doubt this will happen. Given the length of Finland’s railways, going from Helsinki all the way to the Arctic Circle, it would be prohibitively expensive, and the money would have better uses.
If they’re fearing a Russian invasion, a more cost-effective mitigation would be the Swiss approach: preemptively mine railway lines/bridges/tunnels with explosives.
OK, I did not know that. FWIW trains rune fine here and they are modern. Changing the tracks of the entire country is a - I can’t even guess how many billion project. Meanwhile our current conservative-to-far-right coalition is slashing social security from all sides, and the statistics are not in favor.
So I can’t say I’m a big fan of this right now.
Oh look, the transport minister is one of those nazis in sheep’s clothing.
I hope they get the criticism they deserve.
The answer is in the first few words of the article, “Finland’s track gauge is the same as Russia’s was in the late 19th and early 20th century— 1,524mm — which is 89mm wider than the European standard.”
So again, why is it that you oppose this change?
Actually Russian gauge is not 1524mm, but 1520mm! Finland has unique gauge not used anywhere else in the World, although that 4mm difference allows most bogies to be compatible with both of them, international trains can run through the border without bogie exchange.
So the point of the article is right, butnot perfect in details. I love trains.
I too agree this might not be worth the investment, although I don’t know how many connections there are with Sweden, Norway and the rest of EU by ferry.
Yay!
