European Railroad Discussion > Turku, Finland, Station

Turku, Finland (Suomi in the native language), was mentioned below.  Here's that station on 2/14/2004 (14.02.2004).  Åbo is Swedish for Turku, both words meaning market place. Gerry

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That's one I didn't get to. I'm always amazed by the amount of bicyles in the nordic countries. Especially in Winter. Who wants to ride their bike in Winter. Isn't that what cars are for? 

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> That's one I didn't get to. I'm always amazed by
> the amount of bicyles in the nordic countries.
> Especially in Winter. Who wants to ride their bike
> in Winter. Isn't that what cars are for? 

I think you will find that the Finns are not really fazed by winter.

Where would you put all those cars? In addition, one must often pay to park a car at a train station, and when distances are short, it can often be just as fast to take a bicycle as a car. I doubt that many of the owners of those bicycles live more than three miles from the station, which means they need less than 15 minutes to reach the station by bike.

It's simply much more convenient to cycle, and most people in the Nordic countries also view this as a good opportunity for a little bit of physical activity.

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> That's one I didn't get to. I'm always amazed by
> the amount of bicyles in the nordic countries.
> Especially in Winter. Who wants to ride their bike
> in Winter. Isn't that what cars are for? 

Not when you don't own a car because you don't need one.
And when winter is as long as it is up in the Nordic countries you learn how to live with it.

When I worked in Turku (2//04--6//05) I was told that even a small new car could cost 30,000 Euro and there was a 40% tax on that.  The tax income is used to build and maintain the highways which are very good.  Also gas at that time was about 1.50 Euro/liter, between 6 and 7 US$ a gallon.  There are many local bus lines, and intercity busses also, as well as the passenger trains.  Though there are not as many passenger trains as in the rest of Europe.  Helsinki has commuter trains, trams and local busses.

I lived in Duluth, Minnesota (9//72 --5//73) and found that Finland was not as cold, although the nights are much longer October - March.  There were two consecutive days of -40F temperatures in Duluth that winter.  In general Finland was not that cold.  My reference point is one day in January 1977 in Highwood, Illinois, when it was only -19F with a 35 mph wind from the northwest, wind chill was -65F.  I walked (no use trying to start the car) to a drug store to pick up a prescription for my 8 month old son, about a mile round trip.  I finally thawed out in Florida (7//86--12//89) and California (1//90--7//2000).

Gerry
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PHall Wrote:
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Not when you don't own a car because you don't need one.
And when winter is as long as it is up in the Nordic countries you learn how to live with it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/20 05:00 by GPutz.

GPutz Wrote:
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> When I worked in Turku (2//04--6//05) I was told
> that even a small new car could cost 30,000 Euro
> and there was a 40% tax on that.  The tax income
> is used to build and maintain the highways which
> are very good.  Also gas at that time was about
> 1.50 Euro/liter, between 6 and 7 US$ a gallon. 
> There are many local bus lines, and intercity
> busses also, as well as the passenger trains. 
> Though there are not as many passenger trains as
> in the rest of Europe.  Helsinki has commuter
> trains, trams and local busses.
>
> I lived in Duluth, Minnesota (9//72 --5//73) and
> found that Finland was not as cold, although the
> nights are much longer October - March.  There
> were two consecutive days of -40F temperatures in
> Duluth that winter.  In general Finland was not
> that cold.  My reference point is one day in
> January 1977 in Highwood, Illinois, when it was
> only -19F with a 35 mph wind from the northwest,
> wind chill was -65F.  I walked (no use trying to
> start the car) to a drug store to pick up a
> prescription for my 8 month old son, about a mile
> round trip.  I finally thawed out in Florida
> (7//86--12//89) and California (1//90--7//2020).
>
> Gerry
> ==================================
> PHall Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> Not when you don't own a car because you
> don't need one.
> And when winter is as long as it is up in
> the Nordic countries you learn how to live with
> it.

I might have to make a post about Kazakhstan sometime. I spent three weeks working there in February 2016 and the temperature hovered between -25 und -35 most of the time. I had a very slippery 400 m walk to work every morning during which anything on my body that was liquid (around the nose, around the eyes) started to freeze. Good times!

Does the flag flying outside the station have the same symbol as the Norwegian rail company ? The design looks  some what similar.

Stairs adjacent to a disabled parking spot?  LOL.

It's a styalized "V" which stands for Valtion.  The formal name of the railway company is VR, fromerly Valtion Rautatiet (State Railway), originally Suomen Valtion Rautatiet.  The "V" has mostly been replaced by a styalized "VR".  Gerry
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mp16 Wrote:
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Does the flag flying outside the station have the same symbol as the Norwegian rail company ? The design looks  some what similar.

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That locomotive bears a strong resemblance to a Swiss Class Re 460/465.

That's what they are, except for the broad gauge.  See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VR_Class_Sr2  Gerry
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railsmith Wrote:
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That locomotive bears a strong resemblance to a Swiss Class Re 460/465.

I’ve never been to Turku, but I see that it is on salt water. That has a huge moderating effect on local weather.

Not sure if that water body ever freezes, but it has to be far harder to freeze than Lake Superior at Duluth. 

It is not uncommon for the local train passenger to maintain two bicycles in the Nordic countries. One for home to the local station, and the other for destination station to work. Also for example in Copenhagen there are dedicated bicycle lanes with their own traffic signals. Plus the bicycle has the right-of-way, not the pedestrian.

re: why not drive in the winter --

* Turku is a pretty tight little city, not hard to get around the city on a bike.  
* Cars cost a lot of money to buy, feed, and maintain.  
* So, just put on your mittens and go out in the snow.  

Also, 
The Baltic Sea freezes at least part of the winter that far north.  But just 200 km south it is unfrozen.  That's what I was told, anyway.  Tried looking it up to confirm, couldn't find any clear recent maps.  

I visited Turku in 2016, lots and lots of people on bicycles.  I think Finland and Hungary probably have the largest proportion of rural and small city residents getting around by bike.  Denmark, Netherlands and Germany win the highest propoortion in metro areas, but not in rural areas.  Kids are free-range after school, and you see them maurading around the countryside on bicycle (at least in August, when I was there).  

PennEngineer -- do tell us about Kazakhstan sometime... 

Nice pic, interesting comments.  
Ted in UT

Gasoline prices over $6 (US) and fees on automobile engine size may discourage some from buying vehicles for short distance travel, too

And, if you get caught speeding, the fine is a percentage of your income.  Gerry