The night train carriages Finland doesn't want you to know about... Helsinki - Tornio/Lapland review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ต.ค. 2023
- Today, I'm taking you on another epic night train adventure on the Finnish railways. But this time, we're not checking out their fancy double-decker sleeper wagons with ensuite showers, but instead, the older blue wagons from the 1980s that you don't see mentioned as much. So come along as I show you whether these are any good or if they should be avoided.
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Train type: Sr2 + Dv16 and various blue wagons and vr double decker sleeper wagons
Route: Helsinki to Tornio, train continues to Kolari
Train: P269
Distance: 811km
Journey time: 11h52m
Average speed: 68 km/h
Price: 69 euro
Fun Fact: The word "Kolari" means either "car crash" or "snowpusher", depending on the context. The former gives a hilarious twist at the car loading station where the signage says "Kolariin menevät autot" or "Cars heading to car crash"
I love that, what a coincidence :D
The name of the city comes from Swedish "kolare" which means a person producing charcoal from wood.
But you are right the word can have several different meanings in Finnish. 😀
@@vaenii5056 I mean at least in the south we call car crashes a "kolari" but i do not doubt the original name was borrowed from swedish, Kolari being a semi-border town and all 😄
I don't think anybody would use the word "kolari" to mean "snowpusher". The commonly used grammatical case for a thing actively pushing snow is "kolaaja", and you wouldn't use the word "kolari" to mean that because that word has a prominent alternate meaning. Same way the most commonly used grammatical case for a thing cleaning chimneys is "nuohooja", and while you can say "nuohari", it just sounds weird, and as such is almost never used. Even tho that word doesn't have an alternate meaning.
So for practical application of language, the noun "kolari" means "car crash" approximately in 100% of use cases.
Also "[are] heading to" is a little too generous translation for the verb "menevät". As you wouldn't use the verb "mennä" for something heading for a crash. More honest translation would be "cars en route to car crash". And there the "wrong" verb would be implied indication that the car crash is a name and not a noun. The wording "autot matkalla kolariin" is much more ambiguous, and that would actually translate as "cars heading for car crash".
So as not that fun fact summary, the word kolari does mean car crash, but because of the way finnish language works, you can almost always formulate a sentence in a way where it becomes contextually clear whether it's being used as a name or a noun.
Not snowpusher but chimney sweeper = nokikolari, nokisutari, nuohooja.
I did the journey to Kolari once in December about 20 years ago spontaneously simply because there were no hotel rooms available in Helsinki. I imagined Kolari would be a big town but it was nothing but the end of the line and there was no return train for days. Ended up with a 4 hour bus journey to Rovaniemi where I spent 3 days. All unplanned. Great journey and the bus travelling on ice packed roads was something else! Thank you for bringing back the memories.
Thanks for watching! That sounds like it turned into a great trip from a unfortunate situation :D
Interested to know why you chose Kolari of all places :D
@@vermillionrotThat was simple. Stood in Helsinki station and looked at the departures board and found the train with the longest journey. Then went to the ticket office to find out whether a sleeping car compartment was available. It was the first weekend in December but I can’t remember what year.
im adventuring spirit, but that style would be too much for me! i bet it sucked, but was best time of your life, the memory will las forever.
Haha, should hane taken bus to Äkäslompolo, Hotel and watching northern lights with some new reindeer-friends ;-)
Haha, extremely 1970's color scheme in the cabin. Brown and orange, I love it!
I was thinking the same. He should have had some Floyd Cramer's or similar type pianomusic on the background :D
For those wondering, the red wagon attached along with the Dr16 locomotives at 8:17 is a generator car used to give electrical power to the passenger cabins.
Thanks for that, I was wondering that exact question. I was thinking it might have been a fuel bowser, but had the vents. generator, duh. seemed awfully large compared to the locos tho. cheers
The older blue cars are self-sufficient, in that they have generators powered from the wheels charging on-board battery banks, and additionally they have on-board liquid fuel powered heating systems. The old blue cars can stay comfortable for a veeeery long time. Caught in a blizzard? No problem! The modern cars when moving outside the electrified area need to be accompanied by a generator car, which you saw in the video. @@arjovenzia
@@arjovenziaThese generator cars are built using decommissioned passenger cars (same generation as the blue sleepers) as the base, they likely have plenty of unused space within. Cheaper than to build a bespoke frame just for the genset. And freight cars as the base couldn’t do the speed required.
Can’t wait for Haparanda 🇸🇪 - Tornio 🇫🇮 - Kemi trains to be resumed. Fingers crossed for December 2024.
There are rails already. Swedish rails goes to Tornio and Finnish rails goes to Haparanda. Unfortunately not electrified so maybe thats why everyone have to wait... Only diesel locomotives cross the border sometimes with cargo or maybe less than ones in year with tourist train. Btw name "Haparanda" is Swedizided🇸🇪 Finnish language🇫🇮. Its Haaparanta but because Swedes dont know how to pronounce it right way, they wrote the name how they say it with their strong accent and thats why its "Haparanda" in Swedish. Haapa means Populus tremula (a typical tree in that area) and ranta means beach😎
How do they solve the gauge diff?
@@macjonte Haparanda station has an island platform with the station house in the middle. It was built with “European” gauge track on the south-facing platform and Russian gauge track on the north. There is a short section of interlaid track over the bridge as far as Torino’s old station and freight yard. Finnish and Swedish trains can cross the bridge as far as each station. Current project is electrifying the Finnish track from Haparanda station over the bridge to Tornio and then as far as junction with the (already electrified) Rovaniemi - Oulu railway.
I don't know,
Is my content the reason why my messages are getting blocked?
@@jameslovestokyo They are also building new platforms to tornio and haparanda stations on the Finnish gauge. We are in the process of relocating the powerlines that go above the rails underground so they can put up the new wires.
For some reason the old blue sleeping cars are still much better than the new double-deckers. As you said, they are quiet, but also cosy - the new double-deckers are excellent on paper, but they have some shortcomings: they are sterile white like a hospital room, the sound insulation is horrible (you can hear the mandatory door beeps on the stations through the walls and even someone in the neighbouring cabin farting), and there are bright LED lights (including the digital clock) that are very nasty when you want to catch sleep.
I recommend anyone who takes the double-decker to bring some duct tape or blu-tac as well as earplugs, then they are bearable
Totta, vanhat oli mukavempia. Melusta en muista, että olivatko hiljasempia?
I didnt have much issues with noise in the new ones, but i deffo agree those led lights are so annoying!
11:37 Not just any sleeper compartment - but one designated for pets. Notice the vinyl sign on the door and the courteously provided water bowl + bottle of water on the floor for your dog.
Ah yes that's true! I should have pointed that out 😊
That art deco station in Helsinki is magnificent. Finland is a great country. I've only visited once briefly, but I intend to stay for longer next time.
The lantern statues were designed by Emil Wikström, whose studio and home, Visavuori, is definitely worth visiting in Valkeakoski, near Tampere.
Ahhh the good old blue carriages. These are the most comfortable carriages ever - but I'm talking about the seaters (which you'll find only on museum trains these days)! Those seats may not have power sockets and such but boy are they comfortable - I've spent half of my life traveling on them! Hell, the first time I did the night trains up to Kolari and Kemijärvi I slept on those seats just fine (well I was somewhat younger back then too)!
Anyway for these blue sleepers they are comfortable enough, but that orange color just gets me every time. Easyjet, anyone? Anyway they have one major flaw which is the lack of air-conditioning. For April (and well most of the year in Finland!) it's not exactly a problem, but on those rare hot summer days they can be quite hellish. Back in June 2022 I was coming home from Kolari during a 30+ degree heat wave and those cabins were like ovens! People were actually sleeping on the floor and corridors of the carriages to try to escape the heat! To add insult to injury it was too hot even for our pair of diesel locomotives so they actually broke down somewhere halfway between Kolari and Tornio and it took several hours to get a replacement loco from Kemi, and the rest of the journey until Oulu was super slow as the single locomotive had serious issues with the long and heavy train... not a very comfortable journey let me tell you that!
But apart from that they're a nice blast from the past. Good for you to catch one!
Sounds like you have lots of memories with the old cars! I was very happy to catch one, with the order for more sleeper cars they probably don't have many years left
Yes, those old blue ones are the best! I've only traveled in one once but it was so cozy and nice inside. The newer carriages do do their job but I prefer the blue ones by a wide marigin.
Love that you can bring the car on the train! I would love that in Sweden too! That’s the reason I’m driving now, need a car at the destination and it’s more expensive to rent than to drive all the way.
Gotta love the 70's orange for the sink cabinet, that colour was common in UK carriages of the 70's but always dissappeared in later renovations.
Check out the metro in Helsinki :D
I've been in such a wagon only once in 1993 when I was 4 years old, but that smashing orange is something I've remembered through the years 😅
After re-watching this, I realized you might be the first non Finnish person to mention the car carrying wagons. Everyone else just wonder why the night trains stop so soon after Pasila. All normal night trains stop at Pasila autojunaasema (Pasila car train station) and some winter/Christmas time extra night trains even start their journey from it, hence the nearly 450 meter long platform. 😉 There are currently two types of car carrying wagons. The fully enclosed ones are type Gd (formerly Hccmqqr) and the open top ones are type Gfot.
Thanks for the detailed information. I've actually spent 1.5 years living in Turku, so i saw the loading going on there at the station often :D Its very cool not that many car carrying trains left in europe
I made my last trip to Kemi in a sleeper wagon in Feb 1973. That was an adventure as the wagon was very old-fashioned, maybe from the 1930's or so. I met interesting people who I will never forget.
I remember the time when all the VR sleeper cars were these old ones. Did a lot of work travel by then and it was always a gamble how the other persons in the cabin looked, smelled and sounded like. Back then the government only reserved one bed for the trips, so the cabin was filled up by strangers. You having the whole cabin for yourself was a luxury, but you missed the real experience. 😅
You actually cannot share with strangers any more. It's not possible to book just one bed
That is very interesting. The strangers with you were in a way the best part of the experience, it was exciting to see with whom you travelled. It was divided between women and men.
Now that I think about it, it was just before covid when I went to Rovaniemi in a sleeper and I had a stranger there with me. Perhaps it is a very new policy.
@@duzzzz94 Yes it was changed during covid and i guess it have stuck. I've done plenty of shared night trains and its most of the time its great fun! Seems wierd to take away the option to share for a cheaper price.
That orange plastic basin is always what I think when I think the overnight train. 😅
Can imagine the long distace-trip with sum smelly alcoholic bum😂😂😂
Fun fact, the Tornio line has not been used since 1967 (had to actually check), and is planned to be reopened "soon". I am glad they haven't scrapped all of the old carts so they can actually go to that line until they will electrify the whole route.
Mielenkiintoista, mitä reittiä/paikkakuntia pitkin tuo suljettu reitti kulkee?
@@masaman123Torniosta Haaparantaan siltaa pitkin.
9:00 Wood is big business in Finland, for those who don't know. More than 73% of Finland is covered in forest.
Thank you for the nostalgic trip! In the 80's I travelled with my Mom from Southern Finland to her home in Tornio. If I remember right, we had to switch train in Kemi, but not sure. The old rails kept clonking, and it was so exciting to sleep in the train. Flashbacks from the smell and sound of the train! 😅
A Finn here. This was a very nice and informative video! Personally I don't use trains very much here in Finland because I travel with my motorhome. Afrer 12:43 you crossed the Kemijoki which is the longest river in Finland, about 550 kilometers. For them who wonder that "VR" logo everywhere in the trains, it comes from "Valtion Rautatiet" which is Finnish for "State Railways". Welcome to Finland everyone and enjoy our railways and country :)
Now I wonder if you can bring your motorhome with the car wagons on the train, that's a good way to save on fuel :D
@@Simon-Andersen i think it's too big.
@@oh2mp Yeah.. I somewhat remember that you used to be able to get a Caravan on-board, but only "if not fully booked" as even for those old-styled small Caravans there was like only one space where they'd fit.. and those were usually reserved for Vans!
@@Makapaa yeah and that one is about 7 meters long and a bit over 3 meters high.
I did the journey in the opposite direction in the summer of 1972 after walkkng from Haparanda. No sleeping car but I got a good night's sleep jammed between two national servicemen going home to Helsinki on leave.
Thank you for the nostalgic journey ❤. When I was young (20-25 years ago) I often travelled from my home town Rovaniemi to Southern Finland on these carriages but even more often on the blue day carriages that they used before the IC trains and then alongside them as a cheeper option. I miss them because those velvety old seats were so much more comfortable to sleep on than the modern seats that are harder and you could also open the windows in the summer which worked more reliably than the aircon in IC carriages. Back then the student discount was 50% and you could buy a ticket without an asigned seat. It was 5€ cheaper, a good deal as you could get a beer from the restaurant car with that money 😆.
Usually there were only couple of other crazy people travelling all night in the day carriages but if you were unlucky and the train was full, then you'd have to sit in the restaurant car or on the floor next to the doors. I even slept in the freezing cold freight car a couple of times (it used to be between the sleeping cars and the day cars). Back then the night trains were known to be a bit of a party trains and I have some great memories drinking with strangers and smoking in the tiny booth that smelled worse an ashtray if that's even possible 🤣.
Sounds like a lot of fun and memorable expiriences! The night trains are still great but the resturant cars seems to be little less party filled these days :P
@@Simon-Andersen We Finns know that it's too expensive there, so it's a custom here, that we bring our own bottles to Train, and drink it on our own seat ,in secret.. 😉
I miss those trains. 😢 Back then train travel was fun, cheap and comfortable. The seats were so good. ❤ I can't even use these new trains. Sitting on the floor and having your back against a wall would be 100 times more comfortable. At one point I had to travel from Helsinki to Lappeenranta and back on the next train twice a week for couple of years. I did it once and joined a car leasing app immediately after that. When I got to Lappeenranta I was already in terrible back pain and when I finally got back to Helsinki I was literally crying from all the pain. It was even cheaper to just rent a car than to buy all the train tickets.
Tikkurila is also an interesting train station because it offers a direct connection to the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport (the biggest and most important in Finland), which is super handy if you have a flight to catch and want to take the train. It literally stops underneath the airport.
Very true! I actually transfered there from the airport on a recent trip
There used to be a lot more night trains in the past. I was using a one to Kuopio a lot, which ceased in year 2006, after over 100 years of operation. Great memories, e.g. very special and friendly atmosphere in the reastaurant car particularly in the light summer evenings! The sleep carriages were parked in a side rail in Kuopio and one could sleep there a few hours before departure and after arrival - it's only less than 400 km to Helsinki so othewise even with the slowest possible drive it would have been too short for a long enough sleep - what a service!
Not many of those kind of short night trains left anywhere, i think Stockholm-Malmö/Gothenburg still has a similar arrangement
When you showed us the more modern cabin at 11:36 you actually showed us a pet cabin. Haven't yet tried them but it is great to know that they are on the ground floor and even have a water bottle and towel for your pet (stashed in the drinking bowl). And the 50 minute break is perfect for a walk.
Ah yes thats right! Its right on top of the bogie so there is a few steps up from the door, but not much :-)! I saw 2 others walking their dogs during the stops in Oulu
Nice concise clip! Well researched, and you also pronounce our strange language very well. I rode on these cars often during my national service in Rovaniemi back in the early 1980s. Perhaps I'll ride a nostalgia trip before all are taken out of use.
Plan it well in advance and you can go for as little as 49 euro! It's a fun trip, thanks for watching 😀
tietääkseni näitä vaunuja otetaan roihin vain kiireisenä sesonkiaikana nykyään eli kannattaa suunnitella nostalgiatrippi etukäteen
Thank you for bringing some childhood blue carriage memories. Nice to see it for other eyes.
Just clicked on this video and I'm so excited to see the video
So fun to see these very familiar images! I've done Tampere-Kolari twice, with motorcycle loaded on, since it saves a few days riding and allows more days up north into Lapland.
I live actually 2 hours north of Tampere, but riding south first is worth the good night sleep and 3 saved riding days near home.
Sounds like a great way to take a trip with the Motorcycle in places you normally wouldn't!
Nothing secret about those carriages really, Just the last ones from the legendary "blue series" still running. Railway company just made an order year ago for 25 new doubledecker carriages to replace the last blue series carriages in a couple of years. Blue series started moving in the 1970's replacing old wooden carriages, and have been moving till this day. New, modern doubledeckers started moving at the turn of the century/millenia, and are now the main gear they operate.
And in case you are wondering the car wagons shown in Oulu, that's because Oulu is one of the stations you can load and unload cars on to the train, so they take the car wagons from the end of the train, drop some carriages on to Oulu, and take the Car transporters heading up north back to the train via new locomotive. Carriages must be in that order, so that they can chop the train and unload cars in Kolari.
Such nostalgia... I loved to travel on these with family when I was kid and that train seems to be exactly same one that I was in 20years ago 😌
Nice report on an interesting train connection - as we can expect from you!
Thank you 😃
The old sleeper cabins are so cozy! Almost like a small cabin in the woods type of experience compared to the more streamlined capsule hotel feel of the new ones. I go up north only once or twice a year so I rarely am lucky enough to be able to book a new cabin in time lol. Thanks for the outsider POV of one of my favorite train routes!
Gives me good childhood memories, I used to travel in those old trains with mom when visiting Finland, we took the train from Turku to Rovaniemi.🤟🤟
Turku to Rovaniemi was my first night train journey in FInland, but that was on the new carriges :D
AH. the old restaurant cabin. i remember when i was a kid i used to go to Iisalmi from Espoo (we traveled to Helsinki first and then took a train to Iisalmi) to meet with my grandparents for holidays/summer.
I can still imagine the scent of those blue trains As much as i love intercity trains, i truly loved the old blue trains. they were more homey.
thank you for the small bit of nostalgia :)
Good video, with a lot of information. Thank You
Brilliant post Simon
These old sleeper cars are only ones I have ever experienced personally. The nostalgia is strong 😂
The memories, 6 months ago on 14th of April, I was there looking at the information display at 0:27. From there I embarked on a 41 day Interrail trip across Europe and ending where I began. I did take the blue wagons up North too then! They were still surprisingly good! (Way better than Snålltäget ) However, I had hard time sleeping and the next day was kinda rough. Though, that was less of the train's fault and more of mine as I had forgotten melatonin at home. Thankfully, I slept very well between Luleå and Stockholm!
Well-done good attitude travel video by Simon. Enjoy good and safe trips wherever you rail.
I used many times in that ”makuuvaunu” when travelled from Helsinki to Lapland in the 70’s.
those new luggage storage facilities seem much easier to work with than the old ones. We had so much trouble retrieving our bags from the old ones that we needed to call for help, and it took so long they had to hold the train for us. The old cars are great, btw. Another thought: Central Europe has no more auto train services, but Finland have kept theirs.
I’ve been here and you’re right, fabulous station
I was born in the 80's and traveled a lot by train both into the south and north as we had relatives in both parts of Finland, so I spent a lot of time in these old sleeper cars. Great to see they're not gone extinct yet. ☺️
Interesting! New sleepers have been ordered this year, so they likely only have a few more years left these blue ones
There is a shower in the older carriages!!! Its just only every other carriage
I must have missed it then, seems stange for it to only be in over other carrige :-)
me neither maybe the waterlines have higher pressure every other carriage :D@@Simon-Andersen
i use this train a lot to go to my grandparents place in pello the train ride is always wonderful i must say@@Simon-Andersen
Thank you for sharing
Thank you for the wonderful video.
Ah, the blue sleepers. Maybe I am bad at sleeping, but I've never enjoyed good night sleep in one of those. All that noise and vibrations kept me awake. And during summer months, heat too. But glad that you enjoyed it.
I've only once travelled with those new sleepers, and slept almost as good as home. Granted it felt more cramped that blue ones, but for me it was much more comfy.
It seems like the opinions on the new and old sleepers are quite divided. But at least on the Kolari train you can choose between both :D
In 1997 i went to Peera in North Finland to see the northern lights. I went on a night train from Riihimäki to Kemi and then further to Rovaniemi and a bus to Peera. The nighttrain you could see the footlights lighting the snow it was ploughing through. And the restaurant carriage i really saw a Sami woman with those beautiful clothing but she was drunk (they drink a lot in Finland) . In Dutch we call someone who drinks too much a 'zatlap' but a lap is also used to depict Sami people, so i literally saw a 'zatlap' in that train 😁.
Oddly fascinating
i have been in that train many times because my grandpa lived in Kolari (its a place in Lapland) the cabins are quite nice to be honest.
7:25 As a fellow train geek, it baffles me that you completely missed to mention that Finland rail gauge is wider (1,524 mm vs the standard gauge of 1,435 mm).
You probably unconsciously noticed that the wagons were more spacious than in e.g. Denmark or Sweden ;)
It’s the only country still using the original Russian gauge (1524mm or 5 feet) which was imported from the Southern USA since Russia and the rest of the former USSR uses the Soviet gauge which was rounded down to 1520mm.
Fully aware, I think I've mentioned it in some of my other videos from Finland :D Not this one tho
Reason why they changed it from 1524 mm to 1520 in Soviet Union was very simple _ lack of money.Tens of millions wagon wheelsets and rails became so worn out in 1970-ies ,tolerances became so big, it became dangerous.Then Soviet rail engineers had "brilliant" idea : we dont have money to replace millions of wheelsets and tens of thousands km of rails to new ones, lets nail our railway gauge 4 mm narrower so our trains wouldnt swing like drunk drivers from right to left and to back to right again. And that was exactly what they did. Changing to 1520 mm gauge everywhere took almost 20 years
But Finland had plenty of money, they repaired their railway properly and constantly and replaced worn wheels with new ones when they had to, they remained on 1524 mm gauge
By the way 1520 mm train can run on 1524 mm track and vice versa ,Russian passenger trains ran in Finland until covid restrictions stopped it. Allegro speed train between St. Petersburg and Helsinki had 1522 mm wheelsets to run fast on both tracks .
So familiar! Many many many trips over the decades to Rovaniemi From Turku, and back, in these wagons. : )
and soon they will be no more, with the order for new wagons being placed this year.
Little clarification about commuter units. The first shown green/white commuter unit (codename: sm4) are serving only long distance commuter services. You can ride them with HSL tickets (Helsinki region transpotation company), but only for certain stations that are inside HSL area. After they leave the local area they switch to VR commuter ticketing area. Basically they are commuter trains that run longer distances. These trains are usually only used on Riihimäki-Helsinki, Tampere-helsinki and Lahti-Helsinki services. All local Helsinki/Espoo/Vantaa area services are run by FLIRT (codename: sm5) units.
Gotta love that 70's design and tech.
Very nice looking train. Good video!
Thanks John 😊
This was really interesting video. I have traveled in a normal/green nigth train and non-sleep blue train but never in blue nigth train. This video feeled longer than 15 minutes but in a goot way 10/10 video❤❤
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind words
Ah! It's so great to see the old VR red on the cars/engines still; that's all but gone in the south.
Last time i used those blue wagons (about 25 years ago) the toilet flush went straight to the rails and it was exciting use as a kid :)
Yes. Very reliable principle of operation. So reliable that we have saying "toimii kuin junan vessa" (works like a train toilet)
If you'll be in Slovakia some day, I recommend to try the night train Bratislava-Košice(-Humenné) R614/615. From the 5 sleeper cars going all the way to Humenné, only 1 is planned being a newer type (car number 10), other 4 are original old carriages from GDR. Similar to those in video, but without those modernised bits.
And even then, the car 10 is often replaced by old stock if they need it elsewhere (they probably can't use those old ones internationally). In that case, it is a really archaic piece without any modernization. Once I went in such a replacement and the toilet was in the exact shape as in some video from 80s as I later found out! Those old ones that are normally used have at least the toilet a bit modernised, but that one... nothing :D
Thanks for the intresting information! I do plan to revisit Slovakia, probably next year and their sleepers are high on the list :D
As a poor student I spent at least a hundred hours on the blue sitting wagons. I still think the seats were more comfy than modern ones, but it was hell to wake up after every stop as someone left the door open and the alarm just kept going.
In my early 20s I spent alot of time on the blue sitting wagons. In summertime they were dreadful, but summertime only lasted 2 months, if even that. The rest of the year the comfort was superb. There's nothing like it today.
They really are more comfy.
1:08 Olivia restaurant is in the old ticket hall, and is a really nice place to eat with good service.
Will have to try it out next time I'm in Helsinki!
Brings back memories.. Why doesn't want 2 know? I miss those trains.. The toilets were like a flap with some shower.. Now it's like airplane..
I just ride'd with VR.. Been working with them... Damn they are "responsible".. I love Valtion Rautatiet.
They are great, i've had many great trips with VR :D
Very nice and cool video! I was surprised to see that VR still uses those! So I went and read about them. It seems VR is phasing the blue carriages by the end of 2025.
Thanks, yes VR have ordered a new batch of the double deckers so these will be gone probably by the end of 2025
I simply loved the old train cars from the 1990's urban area trains. Cheap and very comfy.
Привет 🙋🏼♂️ Прекрасное и интересное видео 📹👍🏻🔝✅️🙂
Good video!
i like how the public transport also supports drivers by the car cars
Its such a cool service!
my sister who temporally is staying at Rovaniemi for studying has used that to travel back to Helsinki @@Simon-Andersen
Theres also one old steam train with fitting carriages :) I learned about this few days ago and still researching it
1992 was the last time I did this Trip. My 1st visit to Finland.
Must make time to do it again.
Be quick because these carriges will be gone probably next or the year after!
That carriage from the 70’s is the same type as the one and only prisoner transport carriage. Only without the modern stuff inside.
There’s 2 metal beds on top of each other and a toilet, no sink.
There’s also a radio, but only volume control (it’s busted in every room tho, barely works) and if I remember correctly, no on/off button. Certainly no channel select.
You can ask for a water bottle from the guards.
The windows are ”milked out”, you cant see through them, only some lights maybe at night for a split second.
Nice review
Fun fact , me and my dad +brothef use to paint railway station roofs. We found all kind of stuff in there (attic) old vine bottles ,library,shooting area ,pointing in Kaisaniemi. 😅 i also have been working at those night trains. Put water in there etc maintenance. Helsinki station is kinda like weird version at Harry Potter all kind of shortcuts etc in there
Very cool! Finland has a lot of intresting things on its railways :D
VR = Valtion Rautatiet (founded in 1862) is translated "State Railways". Usually we finns make jokes about the name, like "VR, Venaa Rauhassa" wich is translated "Wait with no hurry", because time to time there is big problems with the schedules.
Sadly we don't have Valtion Rautatiet anymore since now it is an company called VR Group :(
@@santerikarna9139Valitettavan monet luulee että asiat toimii vielä kuten Valtionrautateiden aikana vaikka se lakkasi olemasta jo 1. heinäkuuta 1995
"These carriages are super quiet". Funny because the common complaint when they were still in regular service was the exact opposite. The pipe from the water basin goes directly onto the tracks, so the clacking of the wheels on rails and other related noises like braking would be very clearly audible inside the cabin. Why there is that giant heavy lid on the thing. There used to be all kinds of life hacks like putting a water cup over the drain hole or stuffing the basin with a towel etc.
Now I don't know for sure.....but they may have modified the cars to have gray water tanks so maybe the pipe doesn't just go direct to open air under the carriage like it used to, but I'm not sure.
I did not find them to be any louder than other night trains ive been on, but in general both the double deckers and these seem to be kept in good condition, which can not be said for all other night trains in europe ive been on :-)
This is a good comparison to the current state as they are refurbishing the station. Looks much better already!
Seeing the car-carrier operations would be interesting. I'm curious how quick/efficient the load/unload process is.
The loading timeslot in Pasila (where most but not all cars are loaded) seems to be about 40 minutes per train. In case of Pasila, there is 20 minutes between the end of loading time and the departure of the train from the Pasila station (about 400 meter walk from the loading area). VR reserves 20-30 minutes long time slot in Pasila for attaching the car-carrier wagons to the train. When things go as planned, it's quite quick and efficient.
However, things don't always go as planned. Connecting cars of any kind to a train mid-journey can go wrong in so many ways. I'd assume that connecting break (and electricity?) lines can be quite difficult if ice or dirt has built up in/around the connector. Besides, there are so many other things that can go wrong. Passangers (with cars) might be late, some vehicles might be too large to fit in, locomotive doing the shunting might fail, switches might fail etc. This can lead to rather lengthy delays, from tens of minutes to couple of hours. For example (the first one I found after 1 minute of searching) PYO 269 (same service as in the video) on January 5th 2023 got delayed by 90 minutes when connecting car-carrier wagons in Pasila. The reason for the delay is marked as "delay in train formation". This also delayed the following car-carrying sleeper train by an hour.
The way VR has "solved" this unreliability problem is having quite a bit of slack in the schedules for sleeper trains. The service I mentioned left Tampere only 54 minutes late, Oulu only 8 minutes late, and arrived to Kolari 2 minutes late.
TLDR; It's quick but prone to severe delays. I'm not a railway worker, these are only my observations from a passenger POV and if anyone is involved with this kind of stuff, please correct me.
@@klapiroska4714 There is another reason why night trains are so slow. You need to have actually time to sleep. I think they are already too fast for traveling between Oulu and Helsinki since you only have around 9 hours on board. You'll have to get to sleep almost instantly to get 8 hours of sleep and you'll not have any time to actually enjoy the train. But when traveling to Lapland, I think they are slow enough.
I like the Ukrainian flag flying from the station. Finland was once a country fighting for its own independence and still shares a border with them, I hope they can be considered parallels one day
One of the main reasons the latest events in Ukraine occurred was their dream to become an investment center of USA like Finland was after the WW2 right on the border to be a bright showcase for the Russians. Though during WW2 Finns messed up big time and they became amenable and stayed low but Ukraine doesn't, or more likely it is just not allowed to by their mentors.
I'm from Finland and I don't like it. Finnish flag should be there, not Ukrainian flag. Complete BS
@@justarussian8714 Is it Putin's business to dictate what sovereign nations do and who they do trade with? No, it's not. And Russia can blame only themselves for being stuck in the 50's while the rest of the world continues forward.
@justarussian8714
I think the statement that Finland was an american investment center post WW2 is misleading.
Immediatly after the war the countrys leadership was so anxious that they even declined marshall aid. The paying of reparations was also a key priority which called for very rapid industrialization to meet demands of the peace accords.
Finland was pretty much an inbetweener during the cold war. Soviet union had a very strong influence on Finland back then. "finlandizierung", as the germans called it.
Since the country was still free and open, american influence grew by the year with different products, media, etc. but direct economical and political ties were much stronger with USSR.
In the 90's USSR ceased to exist. It was economically damaging, but politically it granted us full self determination that had not been there in the Soviet times.
@@timo94752 'misleading' - what a term, haven't heard it for quite a while, people use it while running for president at the debates forcing their political agenda upon the audience. As for the term 'inbetweener' you are right but it was an inbetweener with a strong drift to the USA: all the machinery, architecture and techologues were generously shared by the USA with Finland in exchange for loyalty. From there Finland also stayed low for collaborating with nazi Germany and for the winter war with USSR, so they didn't bark at Russia otherwise they would been immediately shut off by the Soviets. Finland was an American ally back then as it is now. Period.
What video editing you use in this video, great content you have.
I use Premire Pro and After Effects
You didn't show my favourite part of these trains, which is the old restaurant seating area with the lovely booths and dated gold pipe design. Ugh I love them.
Ah yes! I totally should have, must have forgot to got a clip of it.
Used to work in the trains someway back. Like 4 years ago. Worked as a barista. Easily top 3 workplaces for me.
Sounds like a fun job!
Whoa! A third bunk???? No thanks that's too high for me and with my fear of heights, the voices in my head urging me to jump will go haywire 😅
I immediately recognized that roundabout in time 5.56, it´s located in Korso.
I didn't know that those railroad cars are still used today. it's pretty cool actually.
Only on this service to Kolari during the low season, and on extra trains during peak times in the winter, so they are getting very rare!
U.S. resifent stopping by to say Finland's "second-tier" sleeper trains are so much better in terms of product and price to anything available in North America.!
Was the additional red carriage attached to the 2 diesel èngines a generator car to provide power to the rest of the train.
Yes!
I did also Helsinki-Tornio-trip but in january 2023 and I loved it. Even if I live in Finland I have never done this before. Unfortunately I think that when they electrify rails between Oulu and Kolari I think they gonna change these old nostalgic trains to boring new ones.
There is also rails to Swedish side the border Haparanda (also Swedish rails goes to Tornio). Unfortunately there are only cargo trains and sometimes in summer some tourist trains once(or less) in year when old Finnish lättähattu-train or steam train crosses the border.
VR has ordered new night train cabins from Transtech. I think the first ones will be in service in 2025. They'll probably start using them even if the rail is not electrified since there should not be any restrictions doing so.
As of now they are only electrifying the Kemi-Tornio-Haaparanta -section. Tornio-Kolari will still remain un-electrified for the foreseeable future.
@@lassipitkanen1446 Power of De-wagon? It probably can't get power to whole train if all are doubledeckers.
@@artokmt oh yeah, that's true. I just thought that they were replacing all of the blue wagons, but maybe it's just to get as many of them retired as possible.
They actually are thinking about starting a Luleå - Oulu line once the electrification of the rail to Tornio is finished (maybe late 2024 early 2025??)
Army time i use to use trains a lot
Cool! Ive seen so many conscripts use the train during my time in finland :D
11:06 last 2 times i have taken the night train in Finland I have pulled the all nighter its so fun trust me. I have been only one time in the cabins and it was the blue carriage😂😎
I have taken the blue carriage night train to Kolari countless times, as my family went to Levi quite frequently in the winter, once a winter in the average when I was young and even when I was older and had kids of my own, although now with my family, parents and my sister’s family we would not all fit into one cabin in any easy way. I did not know the intercity two deckers went there, I just thought that the blue carriages went there as the track is, as you said, not electrified (there are plans for that though)
Its ussualy a mix of double and blue carriges off season, but during the ski season it varies, i think they prefer to send the double deckers to Rovaniemi during the winter peak times.
We took these older sleepers in summer in 2009. Back then they did not have AC. Maybe they still don't have? That was the only negative I could say of them. They were hot.
I doubt they have retrofitted them. Might still be best to avoid during the summer then
@@Simon-Andersen Yup, they can be a bit sweaty. Good thing is that you can open the window.
@@Simon-Andersen yeah theyre really warm and well insulated in the winter but in the summer it feels like a sauna
This is an important point. Although I love the retro style, these cars are horrible to ride in July - August during the heat of the summer. They have no AC and the dark blue color means they get really, really warm in the depot's direct sunlight.
I rode one of these from Helsinki to Kolari in July 2022, and leaving Helsinki the thermometer inside showed 34°C. Didn't get much cooler during the night - very little sleep, just sweating all night long. 🥵
Damn, they still look the same as they did in the 80's when I was a kid!
7:49 POV: The loco leaves with the carriages and gets only changed in the next town 😬
Trains go by in our backyard. I have seen those go by
Probably on this train or one of the prison ones
The thing is we maintain our stuff, and we are kind a picky, bad experience means it was lsat time ew used that service, SM2 commuter trains were build 1975 to 1981, they got renovated, and still operating in deep parts of Finland, cannot recall where i made a small train travel, when i saw SM2 all the memorys woke up! oh and it was mint condition.
Ive taken a sm2 from Lahti to Riihimäki, old trains but in nice clean condition!
Does the red carriage behind the diesels carry generators for train services?
Yes
makes me want to go train hopping
I live in the US. Train travel is not only slow, often slower than driving a car, but also more expensive than flying. I feel sadness and envy when I watch videos of people traveling all over the world, and the train is not only clean and efficient, but affordable, and even cheap! There are exceptions, of course - India (as an example) - where you'd be better off flying even at premium price. Train travel in the US is not for the people but for the desperate, last resort, or the people who love trains more than need them and definitely not among the top ways that come to your mind when planning a trip in the United States.
Have You ever been on a Passenger-train in the US?
What do Helsinki Station, Dulles Airport and the St. Louis Arch have in common?
The Saarinen family architects 😃
Beautiful country with beautiful buildings, another beautiful place is Frankfurt main station in Frankfurt, Germany.
Your pronunciation of Finnish station names is impressive. Neat video otherwise as well!
Thanks Tommi! It probably should be better as i spent 1.5 years living in Finland 😁
@@Simon-Andersen I thought it was either a lot of studying or witchcraft, but that'll work, too 😅
As child we traveled with these. My mom had to quere to get sleeper and car.