Laurila – Kandalaksha railway line

Kemi-Kandalaksha
Kelloselkä train station
Course book range :	14 (1990)
Route length:	449 km
Gauge :	Russian section: 1520 mm. Finnish section: 1524 mm
Power system :	Kemi – Patokangas 25 kV  ~
Maximum slope :	12  ‰
Top speed:	Laurila – Koivu: 140 km / h Koivu – Rovaniemi: 120 km / h Rovaniemi – Kemijärvi: 100 km / h Kemijärvi – Patokangas: 50 km / h
Operating points and routes
Legend from Murmansk Kandalaksha (Кандалакша) 0 Rutschji-Karelskije (Ручьи-Карельские) to St. Petersburg Kirki (Кирки) Кирко Budosero (Вудoзеро) Budassi (Будасси) 41 Njamosero (Нямозеро) Towand (Тованд) Kaprajewo (Капраево) 70 Werman (Верман) Нижний Верман Woita (Войта) Войта km 93 Кутуйоки 97 Alakurtti (Алакуртти) Тунтсайоки Куолаярви 148 Kairaly (Кайралы) Колсаноя 162 Kuolajarwi (Куолаярви) Саллайоки Сяркиола 172 Russia / Finland Aatsinginjoki 180 1135.110 Kelloselkä Hauptstrasse 82 Ruuhijoki 1121,400 Salla 1111,440 Salmivaara Hauptstrasse 82 Hauptstrasse 82 1095.030 Course Käsmänjoki 1082.850 Joutsijärvi Pietarijärvi 1064,700 Kotavaara Kotejärvi 9 Patokangas 1062.830 Isokylä 6th Kemijoki 0 1056,400 Kemijärvi 1047.080 Hanhikoski (former station) Ruopsanjoki 1038.840 Palojärvi Pirttijoki 1021.260 Misi Vikajoki Vikajoki 994.980 Kulus Raudanjoki 981.675 Vaarala Kemijoki Kemijoki 972.678 Rovaniemi (old) 971.775 Rovaniemi (new) Imari 954.781 Hirvas Ternujoki 948,494 Muurola 940.833 Ruikka 937,360 Connection to the Petäjäskoski power plant 934.169 Jaatila State road 4 923,373 Koivu (formerly personal stop) 919.892 Peura 912.905 Loue Louejoki Vaajoki Varejoki 900.521 Tervola Kaisajoki 891.870 Paakkola 884,408 Koskenkylä 878.075 Törmä (formerly personal stop) Liedakkala – Kalkkimaa railway from Kalkkimaa 873.121 Liedakkala Oulu – Tornio railway from Tornio 865.776 Laurila Railway line Oulu – Tornio to Kemi

The Laurila – Kandalakscha railway was a cross-border railway line between Finland and the Soviet Union , connecting the Finnish railway network and the Murman Railway (Murmansk Railway ).

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prehistory

A definition of the Moscow Peace Treaty of March 13, 1940, which ended the winter war between Finland and the Soviet Union, obliged Finland to build a railway line between its northeastern endpoint of the network, Kemijärvi, and the shared border, in order to connect to an oncoming route project from Kandalakscha . This Soviet peace condition was aimed at maintaining a strategic military incursion route to the west north of the Arctic Circle .

construction

The Soviet Union had therefore already completed its section in February 1941. The Finnish side, however, approached the project very hesitantly. The crossing of Kemijoki , which is very wide at Kemijärvi, turned out to be difficult. In the winter of 1940/41, a provisional track was therefore laid across the frozen river and the necessary material and the vehicles required for further construction on the east bank were driven over. This enabled the connection to the Soviet network to be established in May 1941, although the Kemijoki Bridge did not yet exist.

From June 22, 1941, Finland took part on the side of the German Reich in World War II and the campaign against the Soviet Union, the so-called Continuation War . Pioneers immediately built a temporary bridge over the Kemijoki, which from July 3, 1941, made it possible to transport soldiers and Wehrmacht material to the east, even if the route still had numerous makeshift arrangements and could not be completed until September 1944. It is popularly ridiculed that the route was opened first and then built.

The first station in Rovaniemi was designed as a terminus near the center. It was only with the extension of the line towards Kemijärvi that it became necessary to build a through station at the current location. The first station was still used for goods handling and loading at Ounasjoki. Only after the destruction in World War II and the reconstruction of the city was this station abandoned and used for today's European route 75 .

business

In the same month of September 1944, the war in Finland ended and cross-border rail traffic ceased. The subsequent Cold War prevented non-stop civil use of the route. Each of the two states initially used the route exclusively to their own border station. Today the Russian side uses the route for freight traffic to Alakurtti , where there is an important military base. The entrance to the route from the Murmanbahn is designed as a triangle of tracks so that trains can enter the route from both the north and south without changing direction . On the Finnish side, the route is still used to Kemijärvi. Operations between Isokylä and Kelloselkä ceased at the end of July 2010. Previously, this approx. 80 km long section of the route was used by around 100 timber trains per year. After a change in the tariff structure of the Finnish railways , this no longer paid off for the forestry companies, and the transports were replaced by around 1200 truck trips on the road.

On March 11, 2014, the section between Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi was switched to electrical operation in the presence of Transport Minister Merja Kyllönen .

The fundamental renovation work on the Kemijärvi – Isokylä – Patokangas section to the new Patokangas freight yard began on September 1, 2014. Destia Rail completed the work. The disused Kemijärvi Gleisdreieck should be put back into operation in 2015/16. The Isokylä timber loading station was to be closed, but the track system for reactivating the line to Salla was to be retained. In addition to the wood terminal, the new Boreal Bioref plant is being built in the Patokangas area, which will create 1,000 new jobs in the initial phase. Regular freight traffic is to be expected based on the company's order book.

Electrification work on the Kemijärvi – Patokangas line began in February 2016 and should be completed by the end of 2016 as scheduled.

On August 22, 2016, the track connection to Isokylä was dismantled, and Patokangas was officially opened on November 3, 2016. The track triangle in Kemijärvi was completed in autumn 2016.

Fenniarail has been running diesel locomotives from the new Patokangas freight yard to Kemijärvi since late summer 2016 .

The contact wire over the remaining stretch from Kemijärvi to Patokangas was put into operation on December 15, 2016. The test drives were carried out on the same day with Sr1 3031 . VR is now driving wooden trains from Patokangas to Kemi. The first freight train was the VR train T 5159/5120 on December 23, 2016, from which day the Kemijärvi station bypass route was used. Various failures of the overhead line from January 5, 2017 delayed the scheduled start of traffic until January 13, 2017. Fenniarail also runs direct freight trains with its own diesel locomotives from Patokangas to the port in Kotka- Mussalo. The new Sr3 3303 carried out test drives on the Riihimäki – Pasila – Seinäjoki – Kemi – Patokangas – Oulu – Kouvola – Inkeroinen – Kouvola – Imatra freight train from February 17 to 24, 2017.

Planning

The Finnish side has shown interest in resuming cross-border traffic, but the Russian side has not. There are plans to connect a phosphate mine at Sokli , approx. 100 km north of Salla , by rail. For this reason, the railway facilities that were shut down in 2010 were initially not removed. The Finnish state wants to provide 200 million euros for this project.

This project was temporarily discontinued in 2015 because the project did not meet the return requirements of the investor Yara International .

gallery

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  Misi train station

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  Joutsijärvi station

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  End of the route at Kelloselkä

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  The catenary hangs up to Kemijärvi (July 2016)

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  Border zone at Kelloselkä

literature

• The end of the “Stalin Railway” in Finland . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 1 (2011), p. 41.

Web links

Commons : Kemi – Kandalaksha railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Beskrivning av Finlands bannät 2017. Basuppgifter om banavsnitt BILAGA 1/4 (4). In: TRAFIKVERKETS INFRASTRUCTURE INFORMATION. P. 66 , accessed on February 1, 2018 . 
2. ↑ Beskrivning av Finlands bannät 2017. Basuppgifter om banavsnitt BILAGA 6/16 (20) - 6/17 (20). In: TRAFIKVERKETS INFRASTRUCTURE INFORMATION. Pp. 130 and 131 , accessed February 1, 2018 . 
3. ^ Association of Central European Railway Administrations (ed.): Station directory of the European railways . (formerly Dr. KOCH's station directory). 52nd edition. Barthol & Co., Berlin-Wilmersdorf 1939.
4. ^ Arktikum, Rovaniemi - http://www.arktikum.fi
5. ↑ Jorma Korhonen: Sähköjuna houkutteli satoja Kemijärven asemalle. In: Sähköjuna houkutteli satoja Kemijärven asemalle. Retrieved January 29, 2018 . 
6. ↑ PROSPERITY AND SUSTENANCE FROM WOOD. Retrieved February 1, 2018 . 
7. ↑ Kemijärven. Tasoristeys 1/2016. In: resiinalehti.fi. Retrieved February 1, 2018 (Finnish). 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Isokylä. Tasoristeys 4/2016. In: resiinalehti.fi. Retrieved February 1, 2018 (Finnish). 
9. ↑ Kemijärvi – Patokangas-rataosan. Tasoristeys 2/2016. In: resiinalehti.fi. Retrieved February 1, 2018 (Finnish). 
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Kemijärvi – Patokangas-välin. Tasoristeys 1/2017. In: resiinalehti.fi. Retrieved February 1, 2018 (Finnish). 
11. ↑ HBL.fi: Staten vill satsa på förbindelser till Sokli (swed.)
12. ↑ Marjukka Talvitie: Yara keskeyttää Soklin kaivoshankkeen. yle.fi, September 14, 2015, accessed January 31, 2018 (Finnish).