A rail journey to the outer reaches of the EU, and a record to set

Today, finally, the first passenger trains since 1988 have crossed the border bridge between Tornio 🇫🇮 and Haparanda 🇸🇪 (OpenRailwayMap), services finally resuming more than a year after the border bridge was repaired and electrified.When Finnish broadcaster YLE asked me about this connection back in the spring, a little idea was born - this line connects Finland to the passenger railway network in the rest of the EU for the first time, and opens up a new longest train journey in the EU.And now it is time for me to test it.Kemijärvi in Finnish Lapland, to Lagos in the Portuguese Algarve, 4008km as the crow flies, and a trip that should take just over 4 days to complete and need 18 trains.And at 19:00 on September 7th, 4 weeks from now, my record attempt will start. There is a whole dedicated page about it, including all the maps and the timetables, and some of the hurdles and headaches I have encountered to plan such a long and complicated trip. Unlike my previous #CrossBorderRail…