A rail journey to the outer reaches of the EU, and a record to set

Today, finally, the first passenger trains since 1988 have crossed the border bridge between Tornio 🇫🇮 and Haparanda 🇸🇪 (OpenRailwayMap), services finally resuming more than a year after the border bridge was repaired and electrified.

When Finnish broadcaster YLE asked me about this connection back in the spring, a little idea was born - this line connects Finland to the passenger railway network in the rest of the EU for the first time, and opens up a new longest train journey in the EU.

And now it is time for me to test it.

Kemijärvi in Finnish Lapland, to Lagos in the Portuguese Algarve, 4008km as the crow flies, and a trip that should take just over 4 days to complete and need 18 trains.

And at 19:00 on September 7th, 4 weeks from now, my record attempt will start. There is a whole dedicated page about it, including all the maps and the timetables, and some of the hurdles and headaches I have encountered to plan such a long and complicated trip. Unlike my previous #CrossBorderRail projects there is not a dedicated crowdfunder for this one, but you can make a small donation to my effort, or subscribe to a limited extra newsletter for the duration of the project. If you'd like to join me for a leg of the trip, or contribute in some other way, do let me know!

But why would anyone want to try this?

Mostly because it's a fun challenge, and watching the scenery of this continent change as it rolls past the window is going to be a joy.

But there is a serious part to it as well.

Making long journeys by train is possible, but there are so many hurdles to overcome. My research so far indicates that to take the the 18 trains I need for this trip, I would need 12 bookings and would lose passenger rights in 9 places throughout the trip - problems the EU wants to put right with its Passenger Package that came out earlier this year.

And of course were you to do this trip with normal tickets (I am using Interrail) it would cost considerably more than flying - these are themes I will develop in the coming weeks as more of the detailed work for the project is published.

Kemijärvi and Lagos are also not really very close to home either, and I will be taking trains to Finland and back from Portugal, taking in twenty more border lines for my #CrossBorderRail project along the way.

One day I intend to have a go at the world's longest train journey, but that one needs some political changes before it can happen. So for now the longest journey in the EU is going to be the best I can do!