Arctic Railway - Finland to Norway

The vision of an Arctic Railway would link the Baltic Sea region and the Northern Sea Route to the west. The initial phase calls for a rail link to be built from Rovaniemi to Sodankylä to meet the needs of the mining and forestry industries. A later expansion to the deep-water port at Kirkenes is envisaged, which would open up a connection along the Northern Sea Route to Asia. But despite the relaunch of the Arctic railway project, it’s far from a done deal. Economic considerations that eventually tanked the railway project in 2018. in 2019 Finnish multi-millionaire entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka announced that he was going to bring the Arctic railway project back from the dead. Finest Bay Area Development still needs to conduct their own feasibility study that company cofounder Kustaa Valtonen says they still haven’t established a hard timeline for. After that, there would be comprehensive environmental impact assessments. The process will take years. A ‘veto’ against the railway by the Sami herders could be the final nail in the coffin for the project. It is unlikely that the governments of Finland and Norway would wish to invite a new conflict with Arctic Indigenous peoples.