Finland has INCREDIBLE Night Trains, but how about this one?

Huomenta!
Finland is known for its amazing double-decker night trains but did you know that they still operate some old single level sleeping cars called the blue carriages on some low-demand routes ?
I traveled on a private compartment from Kemi to Helsinki and it was amazing!
Enjoy, and don't forget to like/leave a comment to help the channel :-)
- TRIP INFORMATION -
Date: FEBRUARY 2024
Railway company: VR
Route : Kemi to Helsinki
Time : 11h55
Price : 59,50€ (reservation) - traveling with a First Class Interrail Pass
Travel across Europe with the @InterrailEU Pass, more info on : www.interrail.eu/
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00:00 : Intro
00:26 : Trip information
01:26 : Long time no see Kemi
02:52 : Santa Claus Express
05:07 : Arrival of the train
05:52 : The Blue Carriages
06:46 : Room tour
09:16 : Mid roll ads
09:47 : Feedback of the night
10:31 : Walkthrough
11:58 : Toilets Time
12:29 : Dining car and seating accomodation
13:44 : Breakfast
14:05 : Auto-carriers
15:11 : Arrival in Helsinki / thoughts
15:42 : Outro

[@user-gp8lc9sh3j]

But a few small side notes, these cars are used on the highest demand routes, because VR doesnt have enough new carriages to fill all the demand, these are used as an extra. About the life of these carriages VR said in 2010 that these blue cars will be phased out in 2020 but still they are rolling on the tracks.

[@SimplyRailway]

Thanks for the precision, I didn't know they used the blue carriages on high demand route too!

[@VijayVerma-lg1dy]

Finland is very beautiful country.😊😊 from india 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@YesYouAreAbsolutelyCorrect]

God bless Suomi. And the fact that you are alone in the cabin no matter what, it's the best thing ever.

[@maxshenkwrites]

I like the format of your videos and one thing I particularly appreciate is this. I follow a couple rail travel channels and not to stereotype, but this approach seems to be typically Japanese: they spent a ridiculous amount of time (literally 5-10 minutes or more per video) showing... (a) what they call AMENITIES, which is really just the bag of crap (towels, soap, snacks, water, etc) that the rail line gives you, and so we get this overly detailed UNBOXING segment where they take out the towel, the washcloth, the soap, the slippers, the menu, the water bottle, the complimentary chocolate, and then we get... (b) a TOO DETAILED room tour, where we get to see every outlet, every hook, every hanger, every curtain, every cushion, every pillow, every usb port, every call button, every door knob and lock, every light switch, every dial for AC-heat.... but wait... THEN it's on to... (c) a similarly painfully detailed tour of the bathroom, showing how the water runs, the toilet flushes, etc etc I like your approach instead: quick hit, show it for a few seconds, thumbs up. Thank you for NOT wasting our time! 😉 This particular video: the scenery looks like heaven and thanks for the tip about the older cars. PLanning a Scandanavian trip and hope I can do an overnight on one of these. Cheers and thanks again and best wishes from the USA!

[@dubious_potat4587]

love how you can hear him watch NJB in the background at 13:58

[@zoltannagy4258]

13:52 Not just bikes :D

[@rogertemple7193]

Awesome trains in Finland.🇫🇮Kiitos ystava🇫🇮

[@JohannesNikitin91]

Thank you! Finally someone does a video about those decent classic night trains! Those new ones you don't have any nostalgic feeling but these old blue ones you have. And some day they will change these old ones to new ones. Those cheesy couples who do those videos in KZbin about our new double decker sleeper trains do not understand that...

[@TangoMikeLima]

Well, the same *train* can have both double-decker modern sleepers and old “blue” ones.

[@pdterre5496]

Our family of 5 have taken the Kolari overnight train with the blue cars several times for skiing holidays instead of driving 11+ hours . Admittedly it is a chore to get yourself and all the luggage to the railway station, cram in 2+3(small) persons in a 3 bed cabin. Once you are settled in though , you can just relax and wake up at Kolari in winter wonderland. The old blue cars are still perfectly good.

[@Alexandros.Mograine]

Yeah, atleast you can chill after you get the luggage on :D i like driving but i hate driving that long.

[@cheeseblog]

I have been to Finland several times to visit relatives. It’s good to see your positive review of this train. I love train travel, and subscriber to your channel. Anyway, thanks for the great review.

[@ronalddevine9587]

Finland is an amazing country. I'm not surprised at the excellence of their trains. 😊

[@tobyrose6906]

In UK. Snow. Closes all lines. ..in Autumn leaves 🍂 on ground. The Railway time table Changes. .. And we dont have Fabulous trains like these. ..Trains in South Eastern England. And London. Better. Express trains from King's Cross to Folkestone Dover. Excellent. .But then again Nothing compared to your trains !!Well done. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@ronalddevine9587]

@@tobyrose6906 If you think your trains are bad, come to the USA. I've been to Britain and I'll take your trains any day.

[@nygelmiller5293]

​@@tobyrose6906 in Switzerland, to make sure ALL trains run, if a driver is sick and can't report for work, it's okay - they've got SPARE drivers on hand, in case that happens!

[@stefanilg6924]

@@ronalddevine9587 So true, and so sad (I've used Amtrak long distance, Illinois services, Amtrak California and the Northeast Corridor). Actually not sad, it's a failure on all levels. Hi from Switzerland. We are spoilt, but Finland is ahead on night trains for sure.

[@LoomisPC]

it really is not that great anymore -from someone living in here

[@markkublomgren5934]

Sweet. I was about to contact mr. Simple Railway to do this run since the days of blue sleepers are running low. New order of doubledecker (EDm) cars are in production afaik and will eventually replace most if not all remaining blue sleepers. Also to correct something, the Kolari trains are by no means 'low' demand trains, they can easily be sold out in the middle of the season. Also, there's two trains to Kolari, only one daily and other during weekends. Also, there's three sleeper trains running between Rovaniemi and Helsinki, two daily and one weekend/season train. There use be a Kolari train that departed from Pasilas autotrain station, hence the LONG platform there. Now we need SR to do a run on a day time intercity...unless he already did that for getting to Kemi, heheh. Also, people might know that we have double deck 'dining' cars but for night trains they ended up using older single level cars, even on the long otherwise double deck sleeper train we saw early on the video. Apparently, sleeper passengers didn't like the modern lighting on the new 'dining' cars (them being LED's). And why 'dining', well, they are just glorified cafes with some heated food available.

[@samtrak1204]

Oh, I love shots of trains dashing through the snow. Sorry I didn't get a chance to ride trains when I was in Helsinki in 2012, but my hotel (Holiday Inn I think) was right next to Central Station and I could see trains coming and going from hotel window.

[@scottyerkes1867]

Something magical about the snowy landscape and these classic blue cars. I've visited Finland on an SAS familiarization tour. Didn't ride any trains. Thanks Thibault. for an excellent review💚👍

[@Spanderson99]

That room looked incredibly cozy. Nothing like the feeling of curling up in a berth on a cold winter night. If I could pay $70 instead of the $400 Via Rail charges for an overnight trip, I’d take one every weekend!

[@michaelbruchas6663]

Thanks!

[@Gregor_FFM]

I was in 2023 in Finnland and ist was a fantastic Trip with VR Matkalla All Trains was perfect.

[@antti_kukkonen]

Before Corona your own cabin was a extra, one passenger costed about 50-70€ regardless the distance. Cabins were diverted to men only and women only (asked when booking). Fully own cabin for a group of 1-3 (1-2 in the double-decker coaches) people was normally around 200€ but booking early you could get up to ~100€ for an adult. Sometimes a single bed was cheaper than a daytime seat, especially for an adult.

[@TommiJKeranen]

14:34 in the back you can see the depot of Pohjolan Liikenne, a big bus company owned by VR. They operate a big portion of HSL bus routes. Two other large HSL bus operators are Koiviston Auto Helsinki (formerly called Helsingin Bussiliikenne, was owned by the city of Helsinki) and Nobina, a Swedish bus company.

[@user-gp8lc9sh3j]

Finally, after all these days you did it, kiitos

[@luisstransport]

Great trip report

[@mayurireddy8196]

Beautiful train

[@phronsiekeys]

Excellent! Those old cars are like a dream.

[@josephr9551]

I wish I was there with you; gorgeous snowy countryside.

[@MLWitteman]

Funny to hear a Not Just Bikes video during this video! Two of my favorite channels doing a crossover. Would be nice to do a collaboration sometime 😜

[@andrealauer4493]

I could see it! Thibault has been known to collab with other Canadian YT rail fans...seeing Downie live + simply railway blew my mind

[@SPPhotography89]

Siniset vaunut ( Blue vagons )

[@michaelhall8586]

Finland is so beautiful, I have to go back one day

[@thomas-xj1hs]

Thanks; very informative.

[@RoniRosenthal1306]

That is inspiring video, thnak you and I might think about it.

[@vorpalteaspoon8904]

Thanks for braving the -20C!

[@joemeyers3127]

Great episode. Nothing cozier than a winter night train excursion. Love that retro sleeper you stayed in. 👏👏👏

[@railwaymedia3119]

Great video! Kiitos! I have also filmed trains in Finland to my KZbin channel, but it´s long time the latest video. After watching this video, I got inspiration to continue my train channel filming. Thanks!

[@merc340sr]

Canada also has 1950s old sleeping cars. I want to do one last trip across the country Toronto-Vancouver before the old sleeping cars are phased out in approximately 10 years.

[@cherylsemrau7100]

Lovely.

[@keksentdecker]

these carriages are so damn WIDE! oh man... broad gauge makes me always excited

[@janbo8331]

This video and the blue cars took me right back into my childhood travels with my late grandmother. Thanks!

[@braydenrailfanner710]

Awesome video

[@Rasmus_Schweden]

Ich war viele Male in Finnland, es ist ein wunderbares Land. Ich habe tolle Nächte dort erlebt und Wölfe gesehen in David in der Nacht geheult haben. Ich war doch froh dass ich in meinem Wohnmobil sicher untergekommen bin. Doch das schönste ist immer die Landschaft und die wenigen Menschen Rasmus aus Schweden 🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪

[@rezaalan3991]

Great trip. Yeah the single deck sleeper car having retro vibe onboard. Something interesting to see about is the Auto Carrier, which interestingly, VR still having the classic open air Auto Carrier in this condition, even though not much as the covered one.

[@Waltaere]

Simplyyy 😃

[@runoflife87]

Aah, those old Finnish carriages similar to "Lev Tolstoi" train (Helsinki to Moscow).

[@TangoMikeLima]

Are they? Aren’t they simply similar to standard Continental European T3 sleeping-cars from the same era?

[@runoflife87]

@@TangoMikeLima sorry, don't know such things🤷🏻‍♂️ At least the shape is similar.

[@timn3806]

love your videos mate!

[@Je_Existe]

Very nice video! I love these Blue Carriages and I woud love to ride them one day! They look so beautiful!!!

[@amadeosendiulo2137]

The IRL Polar Express looks dope.

[@KenanTurkiye]

🚅 don't you all enjoy railroad 🚈 trams, trains etc are just so cool 🚞 take a ride in my ''transportation'' folder, (folder 2 in my playlists) :)

[@SpotterCrazyperson]

Great video!

[@suddenlysolo2170]

Great video, it's interesting to see train travel in other countries. Canada also runs trains at -20c (and much colder). 'The Canadian' runs a 4500 Km, 5 day/4 night train across the country 4 times/week all year round. It's a must if you ever get the opportunity!

[@tcfdesilva1761]

Nice trip by train .❤💖💚👍

[@Ayden767]

On the thumbnail, the train looks like Mandos helmet 😂

[@calintravel]

Amazing!

[@andrewpaul3130]

The latrines are impressive, so clean and so new.

[@pale80]

IC 274 night train starts from Kemijärvi and IC 266 night train starts from Rovaniemi.

[@aarnililja5599]

Great video🎉 You're the best railway youtuber ever❤️ Wich are better blue cars or double dec green cars on high demand routes🤔

[@ranjandasgupta2995]

There are some pleasures of life I will never expreince. This is one of them.

[@rikutaskinen5432]

07:54 my first trip to helsinki 1973, same wagon!

[@LE_RAV4]

Finally a tip to go to helsinki

[@rastewart100]

7:47 Bonjour Thibault

[@grahamwilson5835]

Any Showers on the Train or did I miss a segment where you showed us the Showers ? Simply enchanted countryside, I would love to do the Lapland to Helsinki ("Santa Claus") Express one day. Great Video, thanks.

[@lesajohnson8409]

You went on this train 3/29/24. Wow and it’s snow

[@tuttirulla]

In the description it says the video was filmed in February and he started from the north.

[@janbo8331]

Well, it's almost a month after the date you mentioned now, and it's been snowing all over FInland the past day or two. ^^

[@tuttirulla]

@@janbo8331 Video was filmed in February

[@janbo8331]

@@tuttirulla I am aware. The original poster was surprised there could be snow at the end of March, and I simply stated there's snow even now. It doesn't matter when it was filmed as I wasn't talking about that.

[@Quietloud]

Finland *has* Incredible Night Trains. Je sais vraiment pas pourquoi mais les francophones font TOUJOURS cette erreur en anglais.

[@Traincraft_Fan]

you have been to canada, the US, but not mexico, and there is a new train service which i think you could review, the Tren Interoceánico, it uses amfleets, and there is a dome car (not sure if it is used though)

[@flopunkt3665]

I thought Mexico had only height trains. That must be new. That's great news.

[@Traincraft_Fan]

@@flopunkt3665 they did have plenty of passenger trains until rail operations were privatized in 1998, there was only one train that still regularly ran, the train through the copper canyon, until the government decided to improve the rail system

[@gab_v250]

@@Traincraft_Fan i heard it's testing also ex Intercity 125 from UK.

[@Traincraft_Fan]

@@gab_v250 yes, there are intercity 125s in mexico now, they are being used with the sd70ms and f59ph

[@Park2King]

That's so clever the key-card design to let you control the lock on your sleeping cabin. None of this mag-stripe crap which can be easily duplicated and/or fail on you; just good old-fashioned but oh so clever hole punches in a card-- genius!

[@richardsking]

Please make a video on Pakistan train Chaman mixed passenger train❤, with very much scenic beauty.

[@NerdX151]

Looking at your map, it saddens me that there is still no direct train to and from Sweden. A sleeper from Luleå to Helsinki would attract a lot of passengers. The tracks are already there and have even been modernized. All that is left is to install a re-gauge facility. This could be done like they used to do on the Polish-Lithuanian border, where the trains were equipped with wheels that could expand while moving.

[@jmcortade8161]

Now between Poland and Lithuania, you have to change trains at a border station, but it is the same ticket for both trains, so you don't pay the trains separately.

[@olasola1013]

Just ask for some Talgo Tech! Probably more reliable.

[@janbo8331]

Interesting, I didn't know of such a thing as a re-gauge facility. Does it work reliably in the winter, though?

[@andreastrembaczowski588]

3:54 - Meanwhile in Germany: * DING DONG* aka the sound of horror 😅

[@slimball1939]

Oooh my God. I remember that I traveled a lot with exactly these trains, during my military service in Finland. I just loved them and back then a llot people used to take some beers and glass of wine in the restaurant, even at the day time. I had a lot of fun with people I met. Then I changed to Swedens SJ (lived in Sweden) at Haparanda and it was So boring and expensive. You could only buy Beer with 2,8% alcohol and that one costs 40 kronor back then. In Finland i payd 10 Markkaa For One Beer i the restaurant. So I only took the Swedish SJ once and the rest of times I took the Ferry (It was the ferry that sunk called Estonia, before it was sold to Estonia, that I chose a couple of times 😮). Well, amazing memories 💪🙏👍

[@ishdeephora5077]

Wow

[@bernardrenard6760]

Merci

[@user-fv8xs9qg7u]

Ashfaq from (INDIA) nicely explore.

[@avhg5752]

You should try one day the new trains from Lithuania and Latvia. Finally a Riga - Vilnus train has been inagurated. And besides, you should also try the new VIVI trains from Latvia, they're kinda interesting.

[@fp3359]

I have this sleepingcar in CIWL layout; era 3 .

[@elviselaa]

Did you notice something interesting when opening the door out of the dining car?

[@nygelmiller5293]

DOES look like a nice sleeping cabin.

[@dmitriinikolaev917]

Is that the ex-aurora borealis train? It was the last night express in the country with such blue cars.

[@chakra7562]

Bloody cold 🥶 for me , I stay in warm and 🌞 sunny India..

[@khangnguyenminh2117]

Great one, just like always, Thibault! I'm actually very interested in the book you wrote about night trains, but I dont know any French or German unfortunately. So I'm curious if to ask if you actually have any plan to publish the book in English? If you do then I'm sure that I would the one of the first to get it, anyways thank you for the review!!!

[@SimplyRailway]

Unfortunately, it's my editor's call and not mine. :-( I'm sure I would sell very well but It's not my decision to make

[@formatique_arschloch]

I love and miss those blue cars. Also the blue day cars.

[@andrewseo1891]

Those diesel locomotives look like a lot like Japanese DD51s.

[@raymondmuench3266]

Wish there were more auto carrier trains in the US, e.g. on the Empire Builder and Southwest Chief. Of course, the cost would likely be through the roof!

[@eldino]

Question: can you book the whole sleeping compartment (3 beds) for yourself?

[@SeverityOne]

The reason why the Finns happily run trains at -20° is the same as why the roads in southern Europe don't melt when it's 40°: it happens too often to not cater for it. It surprises absolutely nobody that, when you book a room, you're guaranteed to be alone. After all, this is Finland that we're talking about. Imagine that Finns would have to stay near people that they don't know! There would be riots in the streets. Well, maybe not riots, but a lot of disapproving looks, and perhaps even a strongly worded letter or two. One small comment: maybe you want to check about the automatic white balance of your camera. Because it noticeably turns the image blue as soon as you film snow.

[@TangoMikeLima]

Actually many people with lower income (students mainly I guess) are a bit annoyed that you can’t book a berth in a shared compartment any more. And whine constantly in the Finnish Facebook group for train travel. But there aren’t enough of those to make it worthwhile for VR to offer such. Also, COVID affected this obviously.

[@samtrak1204]

How can a sparsley populated region of Finland support such a big train? Simply amazing! Is it daily?

[@f.g.9466]

It's not a car brain country, people are used to riding bikes and public transit and the government has kept the railway going where needed instead of just investing in motorways like other countries.

[@konemieskou]

These night trains are part of the purchase traffic agreement of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland. The Ministry of Transport and Communications buys this train traffic from VR because the traffic would otherwise be unprofitable.

[@alcatel4539]

Is the electrification 25kV or 15kV?

[@nolunchiseverfree]

Did your train switch to electric traction once it reached overhead lines, or did those two diesels take you all the way to Helsinki?

[@SimplyRailway]

The diesel were removed in Oulu, a station after Kemi :-)

[@petitjeanmanon5791]

👍

[@kevinellis8869]

Another great trip, is there any chance your book will be translated into English?

[@SimplyRailway]

Unfortunately it's not my call :(

[@zzz-yq1jp]

VR is renovating some of these cars so they should be around for some time

[@SimplyRailway]

Really ? I haven't seen that they were planning on renovating these

[@zzz-yq1jp]

@@SimplyRailway yeah they will be very little upgrades but the cars should be in service for a some time

[@teme82]

There is an easter egg in the video. How many fingers does had have on the door of the restaurant car? ;)

[@arokh72]

Proof, Finland does it all better, including the weather :) Love from Australia.

[@roulernbleu4532]

The only bad thing about these great trains is that no commercial manufacturer makes scale models of them... 😢

[@Patterimies]

Those blue sleeping carriages will be removed in the end of the decade and there will be new and even moderner sleeping cars on 2025

[@sauravsingh5142]

Retro car looks good but atleast the middle bed should have been foldable

[@rbwica]

How wide is the Finnish loading gauge?

[@Keinapappa]

Track gauge is 1524 mm. Wagon width (InterCity trains) 3200 mm.

[@santoshkumarsingh8432]

प्रणाम।❤।

[@kamrupexpress]

Did your diesels switch over to electric.

[@SimplyRailway]

Yes in Oulu :-)

[@Gingeonrails]

BR flashing tail lamps get everywhere these days….

[@nygelmiller5293]

The dining car is a bit MINIMALIST, but good.

[@TPWSProductions]

Why does the carriage at 16s into the video have a british tail lamp 🤣🤣

[@markkublomgren5934]

Not all of our equipment, especially the older blue stock, has build in red tail lights, so they use them lamps,

[@TPWSProductions]

@@markkublomgren5934 thats totally fair! Its just strange that there isnt a specifically finish variant. As that one is the british freight/passenger vehicle portable tail lamp 😁

[@donreed]

It SNOWS in Finland?! Why didn't anyone TELL me about this?! I'm always the last to know...

[@bsementmath6750]

LLoLooLoooLoooonggggggg .... for nightly creatures??