Finland and Sweden restored cross-border passenger rail services on Monday, 10 August, when the first scheduled VR train from Oulu crossed the border to Haparanda, ending a 38-year break in passenger services on the route. The first train left Oulu shortly after 5am and travelled through Kemi and Tornio before crossing the Tornio River into Sweden.
it does go to Oulu which is a reasonably large city, and having it now go directly to Haparanda station means connections to swedish trains are easier, so i’d wager it’ll see reasonable ridership just for connections between Oulu and Luleå for example.
I’m sure it’s enough to justify the line’s existence, just not useful for the majority travelling between the countries.
The context felt like it might change the assumptions people will make from the title.