The Torne River Railway Bridge is a dual gauge railway bridge between Haparanda, Sweden and Tornio, Finland; the 1524mm rails used for Finland, the 1435mm rails used for Sweden.[1] A temporary ice river track was built over the Torne River in 1917.[2]
Bridge seen from the Finnish side. Note the dual track gauges.
The current bridge was opened in 1919 and was the first direct connection between the towns until the road bridge opened in 1939. It was jointly built by the governments of Sweden and Finland, and by the railway.[3] A small aerial lift was built in 1916 over the river to transport mail, because during parts of the year the ice was too strong for boats and too weak or too split up for walking, and this was the main gateway between Russia and Western Europe during World war One.[4] The aerial lift was removed when the railway bridge was operating.
Map showing the bridge and the railway marshalling yards. Sweden is at the left, Finland at the right.
The bridge is painted white from the Finnish side to the international border, and is blue from there to the Swedish side. The dual gauge tracks continue over the bridge into railway marshalling yard in either country (a Swedish-gauge marshalling yard in Tornio, and a Finnish-gauge yard in Haparanda). Passenger trains also went over the bridge but have been withdrawn; the Finnish Railways ended passenger traffic to the Swedish side gradually between 1984 and 1988 while the last SJ passenger train left Haparanda in 1992. A train between Boden, Sweden and Haparanda was tried in the early 2000s, but was stopped as it was unprofitable. As of 2014, Green Cargo is shunting in Tornio, usually once or twice a day on weekdays and Saturdays. VR will shunt in Haparanda, if necessary. Current cross-border traffic consists of containerized goods and freight from Outokumpu. Cross-border freight transport is expected to increase on the Swedish side with construction of the new railway line between Kalix and Haparanda.[2]
Technical details
The bridge is 245m long, and was built as a swing bridge (although it was seldom-used as such) which rotated in the horizontal plane around the central pillar. The bridge was converted to a fixed structure on October 22, 1985.[5]
References
^"The Lyngenfjord Highway – 1939". www.alternativefinland.com. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
^ ab"Tornio–Haaparanta". www.resiinalehti.fi (in Finnish). Resiina. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
^"HAAPARANTAAN ENNEN VANHAAN". arkisto.fi (in Finnish). Oulu County Archive, Finland. 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
torne, river, railway, bridge, dual, gauge, railway, bridge, between, haparanda, sweden, tornio, finland, 1524mm, rails, used, finland, 1435mm, rails, used, sweden, temporary, river, track, built, over, torne, river, 1917, tornio, river, railway, bridgecoordin. The Torne River Railway Bridge is a dual gauge railway bridge between Haparanda Sweden and Tornio Finland the 1524mm rails used for Finland the 1435mm rails used for Sweden 1 A temporary ice river track was built over the Torne River in 1917 2 Tornio River Railway BridgeCoordinates65 49 40 N 24 08 58 E 65 8278 N 24 1495 E 65 8278 24 1495CarriesRailLocaleTornio FinlandCharacteristicsTotal length245 metres 804 ft HistoryOpened1919LocationBridge seen from the Finnish side Note the dual track gauges The current bridge was opened in 1919 and was the first direct connection between the towns until the road bridge opened in 1939 It was jointly built by the governments of Sweden and Finland and by the railway 3 A small aerial lift was built in 1916 over the river to transport mail because during parts of the year the ice was too strong for boats and too weak or too split up for walking and this was the main gateway between Russia and Western Europe during World war One 4 The aerial lift was removed when the railway bridge was operating Map showing the bridge and the railway marshalling yards Sweden is at the left Finland at the right The bridge is painted white from the Finnish side to the international border and is blue from there to the Swedish side The dual gauge tracks continue over the bridge into railway marshalling yard in either country a Swedish gauge marshalling yard in Tornio and a Finnish gauge yard in Haparanda Passenger trains also went over the bridge but have been withdrawn the Finnish Railways ended passenger traffic to the Swedish side gradually between 1984 and 1988 while the last SJ passenger train left Haparanda in 1992 A train between Boden Sweden and Haparanda was tried in the early 2000s but was stopped as it was unprofitable As of 2014 Green Cargo is shunting in Tornio usually once or twice a day on weekdays and Saturdays VR will shunt in Haparanda if necessary Current cross border traffic consists of containerized goods and freight from Outokumpu Cross border freight transport is expected to increase on the Swedish side with construction of the new railway line between Kalix and Haparanda 2 Technical details EditThe bridge is 245m long and was built as a swing bridge although it was seldom used as such which rotated in the horizontal plane around the central pillar The bridge was converted to a fixed structure on October 22 1985 5 References Edit The Lyngenfjord Highway 1939 www alternativefinland com Retrieved April 14 2014 a b Tornio Haaparanta www resiinalehti fi in Finnish Resiina Retrieved April 27 2014 HAAPARANTAAN ENNEN VANHAAN arkisto fi in Finnish Oulu County Archive Finland 2014 Retrieved April 14 2014 MONUMENTS AND STATUES IN TORNIO Haparandabanan Jarnvagsdata med trafikplatser 2009 in Swedish Svenska Jarnvagsklubben 2009 ISBN 91 85195 05 7 This article about a bridge in Sweden is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Torne River Railway Bridge amp oldid 1036157923, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
