History
The first rail line between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna was opened on January 31, 1862. As Finland was then the Grand Duchy of Finland; a region of Imperial Russia, railways were built to the broad Russian track gauge of 1,524 mm (5 ft) . An extension from Riihimäki to the new Finland Station in Saint Petersburg was opened in 1870. However, the Finnish and Russian rail systems remained unconnected until 1912. Russian trains could not have used the Finnish rail network due to a narrower load gauge. Later the Finnish load gauge was widened to match the Russian load gauge, with hundreds of station platforms or tracks moved further away from each other.
Further expansion occurred in the 1800s and by 1900 much of the network had been constructed with 3,300 km of track built.
The Finland Railway Bridge across the River Neva in Saint Petersburg, opened in 1912, connected the Finnish State Railways to Russian Railways. Following Finnish independence, the Russian part of the line was handed over to Russian authorities.
Read more about this topic: Rail Transport In Finland
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