Arctic Rail

The project of a Railroad from Rovaniemi (FI) to Kirkenes (NO), that is being discussed under the name „Arctic Rail“, should be considered more important now than a few years ago. Due to the attack of Ukraine by Russia and the sanctions and the announced Russian attack of Finland and Sweden (yes, that is true, …

Share Button

Kirnitzschtalbahn – a rural tram line

(Terje Melheim) Tramways are usually associated with large towns, built up areas, big buildings and much traffic. Can you imagine a tram line through a fantastic rural landscape? An example of such a tram line is Kirnitzschtalbahn in Eastern Germany. That Kirnitzschtalbahn has survived till today is probably due to the fact that it was …

Share Button

How to continue with the rail line from Rovaniemi to Kirkenes?

Deutsch As could be observed, the project of a railroad from Rovaniemi to Kirkenes has been put on hold, because of not being economically viable with the currently predicted amounts of freight volume. Passenger service, which would be expected to happen on this line, would be so little that it cannot contribute a large share, …

Share Button

New Discussions about Rail Connection from Finland to Kirkenes

Deutsch Some activity can be observed concerning the question of a railroad connection from northern Finland to Kirkenes in Norway. Such a railroad would start in Rovanienmi or Kemijärvi and go to Ivalo in northern Finland. From there it would pass the Lake Inari (Inarijärvi) either like todays highway in the west or a bit …

Share Button

Using Trains in Denmark

Deutsch The Danish railroads are a sad story for this country. After some experiences as frequent transit traveler on the way from Denmark to Norway or Sweden it is possible to say this without being to much biased by singular experiences that are not representative. The observations all refer to the long distance and international …

Share Button

Why do railroads have no cloverleaf interchanges?

Deutsch Do cloverleaf interchanges for railroad lines exist? I must admit that I do not know all railroad lines in the world, but I consider it highly unlikely that anywhere two railroad lines are connected by a cloverleaf. They do exist in games that need not be realistic in every aspect, but this page is …

Share Button

Rail Projects in Northern Scandinavia

Deutsch The European region north of the arctic circle in Finland, Norway and Sweden is often called „Cap of the North“ („Nordkalotten“ in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, or „Pohjoiskalotti“ in Finnish). That area is thinly populated, but there are some towns with a few 10’000 inhabitants and a more densely populated area in their vicinity, …

Share Button

A Track is not enough

(translation of Ein Gleis alleine genügt nicht) Building and maintenance of transportation routes is often considered to be a responsibility of the state.  It is assumed that everybody can then use this routes. For transportation of persons this is only partly true.  A highway can be used by individually owned means of transportation, like bicycles …

Share Button