Finnish Rail Network
The rail network interconnects the major Finnish cities. Trains have 5741 kilometers of tracks (passenger trains 3977 kms). The most important sections of line are electrified, like the lines from Helsinki to Turku, to Pori, to Tampere, to Jyväskylä, to Rovaniemi, to Iisalmi and to Joensuu.

Finnish trains are spacious, comfortable and clean. The scenery among the lines is beautiful, especially in Eastern Finland where there are many lakes. You can travel either by a car carrier train or by a passenger train. You can also choose whether you would like to travel through the night or at the day time.

Helsinki Region commuter trains
Helsinki Metropolitan Area commuter trains run on the main line between Helsinki and Riihimäki, on the Coast line (Helsinki-Karjaa) and on the Helsinki-Vantaankoski line. In addition, from 3 September, commuter trains run on the direct line between Helsinki and Lahti.

The commuter trains are of four types. The Sm1 and Sm2 type EMUs, totalling 100 units, represent an older fleet built in 1968-1981. Of these trains, 63 units have been modernized and the remaining units will be renovated by 2009.

In peak-hours also locomotive-hauled Eil cars are used in commuter services. Their total number is 57.

The most recent train type is the Sm4 low-floor train. The entrance and the passenger compartment between the vestibules is on the same level as the raised station platforms, to permit an easy access for passengers with a pram, wheelchair or bicycle. The low-floor rail services are specified in the commuter timetable.

Services on low-floor trains
In the design and development of the low-floor train, VR's experience and customer feedback gained in the Helsinki Region commuter services were considered. The low-floor trains feature wide doors and spacious vestibules to ensure fast boarding and getting off the train.

Wheelchair passengers, passengers with prams or bicycles now have an easy access to the train as the entrance and the passenger compartment between the vestibules are on the same level as the raised station platforms. Every vestibule has a space for prams and both train ends provide space for bicycles. The seats in the end compartment are a few stairs higher up than the low-floor compartment and the vestibules.

Travel comfort is also enhanced by air-conditioning and infomonitors supporting the passenger information system in the train. The monitors display the travel route, the following stop and whether the car provides a ticketing service. Moreover the monitors inform about any possible exceptional traffic arrangements. To promote travel safety, surveillance camera recorders have been installed in the trains.

Pendolino & InterCity
The fastest train Finland is the Pendolino, which runs from Helsinki to Turku, Tampere, Jvaskyla and Oulu at a maximum speed of 200 km/h. High standard InterCity trains offer excellent time tables on the most popular sections of the line. Both train types are equipped with air-conditioning, electronic doors, possibility to listen to music or radio channels, mobile phone amplifier, separate smoking room and info monitors and boards. Announcements on board are given in Finnish, Swedish and English.

Sleeping Cars & Long-Distance Trains
Sleeping car compartments are equipped with hot and cold running water. The doors can be locked and opened with key-cards.

Long-distance trains in general have restaurant/buffet cars and public telephones onboard. In most trains there are facilities for allergic and disabled passengers.

Trains to Russia
While you are in Finland, you are only a train journey away from St. Petersburg and Moscow. Railway connections to the East are excellent. The Finnish train Sibelius and the Russian train Repin leave Helsinki daily for Vyborg and St. Petersburg. The Tolstoi takes you to Moscow every night. Each train has a restaurant car. Border formalities are carried out on board the train.

Welcome to Helsinki
Helsinki is one of Europe’s most modern and culturally progressive cities, yet remains in touch with an intriguing history stretching back over 450 years. It is a city of bustling, colourful market squares and halls, of outdoor summer concerts and sports events, of seaside parks, of excellent cafes and restaurants for every taste and budget, top-notch hotels and cutting-edge art in fine museums. It is also a pleasantly compact city, with many of the attractions in the central districts, within easy reach of one another.

Attractions range from the fabulous island fortress of Suomenlinna in the entrance to the South Harbour and the Open Air Museum of traditional buildings on the island of Seurasaari, to the startling Kiasma housing the Museum of Contemporary Art and the unique ‘Church in the Rock’. History abounds in the magnificent Senate Square, with its neo-Classical Lutheran Cathedral, in the nearby Uspensky Orthodox Cathedral, and in the art nouveau details of the Railway Museum and National Museum.

Suomenlinna
Suomenlinna is a major monument of military architecture. The 250-year-old fortress, which has been preserved intact because of its military use, is today part of the world heritage. Suomenlinna is one of Finland’s most popular tourist attractions. At the same time it is a suburb of Helsinki, with 850 people living in the renovated ramparts and barracks.

Rock Church – Helsinki
Quarried out of the natural bedrock, Temppeliaukio Church is one of Helsinki's most popular tourist attractions. The interior walls are created naturally by the rock. The church was designed by architects Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen and opened in 1969. Due to its excellent acoustics the church is a popular venue for concerts.

Finland’s Lapland
The Lapland Province extends from the northernmost shores of the Baltic in the south through forests that become gradually thinner as the terrain begins to rise in the north. The region remains home to a small population of indigenous Lapps or Same, and you can visit an excellent museum of their culture at Inari. The provincial capital and biggest city, Rovaniemi, sits on the Arctic Circle that dissects the area, and this is also where you’ll find the One True Home of Finland’s most popular resident: Santa Claus. The Santa Claus Village includes a post office which handles children’s letters to the Old Gentleman dispatched from all over the world, as well as the opportunity to meet Santa himself and have your photo taken with him in his grotto. There’s a SantaPark theme park nearby too.

But Lapland is much more than Santa Claus and reindeer - although these creatures are an important and conspicuous part of Lapp culture, and you may encounter more reindeer than people on your travels through this thinly populated part of the world. The opportunities for outdoor activities are truly endless: the fells and mountains of the far north are superb, inspiring walking territory, and also increasingly popular with mountain bikers. The river system that marks the border with Sweden, from Kilpisjärvi in the north to Tornio in the south, is perfect for canoeing and, in places, white water rafting, and the lakes and rivers everywhere are fruitful fishing waters. Prospecting for gold is another option. In winter, the sports resorts of Levi, Saariselkä, Ruka and Olos - to name a few - come to life, opening their Alpine ski slopes and cross-country ski trails. Snowmobile, reindeer and dog-sled safaris take you into the valley forests and over the fells, and you can even spend the night in an igloo.

Most accommodation is of a more conventional variety, however, and there is no shortage of warm and well-appointed hotels, atmospheric log cabins and chalets and superb restaurants where you can sample local delicacies of reindeer, fresh fish and exotic cloudberries. And when you do venture out into the cold - with temperatures as low as -30 Celsius - the next day, most tour operators will be able to provide you with extra clothing that’s appropriate for whatever activity you choose.