You’ll be able to visit Santa Claus by train from 2025

With a new projected connection to Sweden, Finland will no longer be Europe’s railway island

Finland has been part of the EU since 1995 and recently became NATO’s newest member, yet you might be surprised to know that its only cross-border railway link was to neighbouring Russia. At least until last year, when train services between Helsinki and St. Petersburg were suspended in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The good news is that the country is poised to finally be linked to the rest of Europe by rail after a horizon has been announced for the completion of a railway connection between Laurila (Finland) and the nearby Swedish town of Haparanda. Both of these localities are located in the north, which is also where the two countries share a border with a length of 545 kilometres.

And since Laurila is located in Lapland that basically means that finally, you’d be able to hop on a train anywhere in Europe and eventually work your way around to reach Santa Claus' homeland in the comfort of a railway car.

Boosting tourism to the North

The plans to link both Nordic countries by rail date back to 2021, and preparatory work for the electrification of the line to allow this to happen is set to start this month. The hope is that the improved connection and availability of this public transit mode will inspire more people to venture up North in the comfort of a train.

“I think that train travel is something that is more and more in demand, and we haven’t been able to offer that from international destinations so far,” said Nina Forsell, Executive Manager at the Finnish Lapland Tourist Board, as quoted by Euronews.

Some time ago, a proposed Arctic railway connecting Finland to Norway was halted after protests by the Sami community over the impact the project would have on reindeer.