Departing from Kemijärvi in Finland on September 7, Jon Worth arrived at Lagos Station, officially completing what is considered the longest possible train journey in the EU.

The #CrossBorderRail initiative represents more than 6,000 kilometres. Kemijärvi and Lagos are the two most distant locations in the European Union which regular rail services can connect, and Worth completed the whole route in 125 hours and 31 minutes.

The connection became possible this year with the reopening to passenger transport of the cross-border line between Tornio, Finland, and Haparanda, Sweden.

Joys and shortcomings

The initiative aims to demonstrate the joys and shortcomings of international railway journeys in Europe in terms of coordination between operators, timetables, ticketing and cross-border connections.

According to the Municipality of Lagos, the journey symbolically reinforces Lagos’ position as “one of the extremes of this great rail link between northern Finland and southern Portugal.”

For more details on the route and future initiatives, go to crossborderrail.eu.