Kontiomäki – Taivalkoski railway line

Kontiomäki – Taivalkoski
Hyrynsalmi station
Route length:	157 km
Gauge :	1524 mm ( Russian gauge )
Top speed:	Kontiomäki – Ämmänsaari: 40 km / h
Legend 157.0 End of track 155.9 Taivalkoski (from December 1, 1961) 154.9 Taivalniska (from December 1, 1961) Iijoki 154.5 Taivalniska (Dec. 1, 1959– Dec. 1, 1961) 152.9 Taivalvaara 151.2 Palo 150.0 Väljänkoski 142.7 Kurtti 141.1 Särkiköski 135.4 Italy 132.2 Ristisua 128.2 Kentta Narrow gauge railway to Kuusamo 127.2 Korvua 125.2 Välivaara Korvuajoki 118.2 Velloja 114.8 Leino 112.8 Käkiaho 110.6 Uuttula 108.4 Koitto 105.8 Lippo 100.5 Päävaara 94.8 Vääkiö 92.0 Hauta-aho 89.3 Huuhkajavaara 86.7 Syrjävaara 85.3 Kovajärvi 81.6 Ritola 77.5 Jäkäläaho 91.7 Ummansaari 89.3 Siikaranta 87.2 Kurimo 83.8 Vähä 79.8 Raappana 75.6 Kuvaja-aho 74.0 Pesiökylä 71.9 Haikivaara 68.8 Piilikangas 63.5 Laaja 57.7 Hallavaara 55.8 Honkamaa 51.8 Vannevaara 50.7 Pihakala 49.2 Hyrynjärvi from here formerly narrow-gauge railway to Kuusamo 45.8 Hyrynsalmi 43.8 Daddy 38.3 Housuvaara 33.4 Karppila 31.4 Emajoki 31.0 Kalliokoski 29.5 Jokikylä 29.1 Pienijoki 19.9 Siltasuo 18.0 Ristijärvi 12.6 Sipola 7.7 Härmänmäki 4.7 Laajakangas by Vartius 3.0 Matkla from and to Ouluu 0.0 Kontiomäki to Joensuu

The railway Kontiomäki-Taivalkoski is in large part after the Second World War built branch line in Finland . It has been partially closed since 2004, only between Kontiomäki and the terminus of a branch line, Ämmänsaari, there is still freight traffic.

history

As early as December 1, 1939, the small town of Hyrynsalmi was connected to the Finnish railway network.

During the Second World War , a 750 mm narrow-gauge railway was built here , which led to Kuusamo . The Hyrynsalmi – Kuusamo railway line did not have a long life; with the retreat of the German troops in 1944, operations were abandoned and in 1954 the tracks were removed.

In the following years, the route to Taivalkoski was built using part of the former route to Korvua. Laaja was reached on November 1, 1954, and Pesiökylä on September 16, 1955.

From here the branch line to Ämmänsaari, a district of Suomussalmi, was built . The line to Kovajärvi was opened on November 15, 1956, to Vääkiö on November 15, 1957, to Leino on January 15, 1959, to Taivalniska on November 1, 1959, and Taivalkoski terminus in 1961.

business

The route has no electronic traffic control. The traffic control takes place from Oulu, the driving orders are given by radio.

Total distance

In the winter seasons 1988-90 the railway line was used by the test train "Winterrail". The trains ran twice a week. In 1991 the trains were marked “on demand” and there was no regular ski traffic. As a result, the ski traffic was stopped due to insufficient utilization.

Kontiomäki – Ämmänsaari

Only freight traffic takes place on this section of the route. Mainly raw wood is transported. The weekday freight train travels from Kontiomäki to Ämmänsaari in the morning and back again in the afternoon. In some cases the route is used by museum trains.

Pesiökylä – Taivalkoski

In 2004 the Finnish State Railways closed the line between Pesiökylä and Taivalkoski to all traffic. Since then, the tracks have not been used.

Planning

In 2007, the 40 level crossings on the freight train line that was still in operation were examined. It was found that there are 33 level crossings in the Kontiomäki – Pesiökylä section and seven road crossings in the Pesiökylä – Ämmänsaari section. At this point in time, around half of the crossings did not comply with the currently applicable guidelines with regard to the visibility of vehicle traffic on the route. In addition, suggestions were made regarding the abandoning of crossings, improvement of the road conditions and necessary vegetation work over a period of five years.

In 2011 plans were made to reopen the line. The background to this was the production from the Mustavaara mine, one of the largest vanadium deposits in Finland. The mine operated between 1976 and 1985 and closed due to the oversupply of vanadium on the world market. A new company, Mustavaaran Kaivos Oy , was established in 2011 and was due to reopen in 2016. In addition to vanadium and iron, titanium should also be extracted. However, the opening of the ore mine was not carried out.

In 2019 the plans were taken up again. According to a status report, with an increasing trend in 2018, 0.49 million tons of wood between Kontiomäki and Hyrynsalmi and EUR 0.32 million. Tons transported between Hyrynsalmi and Ämmänsaari. The track is in poor technical condition and needs to be repaired for continued operation. On the approximately 90 km long section Kontiomäki – Pesiökylä – Ämmänsaari, the maximum speed with an axle weight of 200 kN is around 40 to 50 km / h. This maximum permissible axle weight prevents the use of new, energy-efficient diesel locomotives. The track is equipped with K30 short rails and nail fastenings, the substructure consists of gravel, sometimes even sand. The superstructure is over 40 years old. Hyrynsalmi and Ämmänsaari are charging points for the raw wood.

The project includes the reconstruction of the line, equipping it with the appropriate safety equipment and the construction of level crossings. In addition, a new raw wood loading point is planned for Pesiökylä. It is assumed that after the renovation, the volume of log transports will increase significantly.

Measurements began in summer 2019 to plan the modernization of the Kontiomäki – Pesiökylä section (around 75 km). No management plans are required for this work. The planning and construction could take place gradually over a period of three to four years. The first results will be available from 2020.

The spatial planning for the raw wood loading point Pesiökylä should be completed in autumn 2019. It would take about a year to build the loading point, and one to two years to prepare and approve the plans. Plans to improve the level crossings could have been drawn up from 2019. However, there was no decision to draw up these plans, as the implementation of the project requires a separate financing decision in the state budget.

The preliminary cost estimate for the repair including the new loading station in Pesiökylä is € 80 million.

literature

• Iltanen, Jussi: 29. Taivalkosken ja Vartiuksen radat , Radan varrella: Suomen rautatieliikennepaikat, p. 371, Karttakeskus, 2009, ISBN 978-951-593-214-3 .

Web links

Commons : Kontiomäki – Ämmänsaari / Taivalkoski railway  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tapio Ahonen, Antti Seise and Erkki Ritari: TASORISTEYSTEN TURVALLISUUS RATAOSILLA KONTIOMÄKI – PESIÖKYLÄ JA PESIÖKYLÄ – ÄMÄNSAARI. (PDF) In: virtual.vtt.fi. 2007, accessed February 23, 2020 (Finnish). 
2. ↑ Petri Hakkarainen: Taivalkosken rata halutaan avata. kaleva.fi, September 15, 2011, accessed on February 22, 2020 (Finnish, “The Taivalkoski cable car is to be reopened”). 
3. ↑ RATA Kontiomäki – Pesiökylä (–Taivalkoski). Suunnittelukohde 10/2019. In: vayla.fi. Accessed February 23, 2020 (Finnish, planning targets).