SNR

Suurnopeusrauta

Locale	Valkea, with services extending to Ostrothia, Nynorsk Ostlijord, and Caledonia
Dates of operation	1986–present
Track gauge	1,435 mm (Standard gauge)

Suurnopeusrauta (SNR; Valkean, "high-speed rail") is Valkea's intercity high-speed rail service. It is operated by the state-owned Valkean Railways Group, and regularly operates at speeds between 250 and 330 km/h. The SNR network currently carries 90 million passengers every year.

Plans for a high-speed rail network began as early as 1970, with proposals being submitted to the Valkean government. However, funding for the project was delayed due to the collapse of the Kansallist regime in 1975, but eventually Valkean National Railways (VNR) was granted funding from Paavo Itkonen's administration in 1978. In 1980, VNR ordered 70 high-speed trains from VTK, and the first line was inaugurated in 1986, connecting the cities of Våren Livet and Novika. Since then, it has expanded to connect major cities throughout Valkea.

The SNR network extends to surrounding countries, with lines connecting it with Ostrothia, Nynorsk Ostlijord, and Caledonia. Several future lines are planned, including a new coastal corridor between Dagsmark and Brantevik, as well as spur lines to link the Central and Eastern corridors.

History

Valkea was experiencing a rapid growth in infrastructure during the 1960s, mainly through the expansion of air travel and the Valkean Motorway System. At the time, the Valkean government was looking to revitalize its rail infrastructure, which had been in a state of disrepair since the 1940s. Valkean National Railways was tasked with studying the viability of a rail network that would connect Valkea's major cities, along with the kind of trains that would operate on it.

Initially, the plan was to construct a passenger and freight line between Dagsmark, Våren Livet, and Novika that used diesel-electric locomotives with a top speed of 200 km/h (120 mph). However, with growing evidence of the feasability of high-speed rail, it was decided that the new line will have a high-speed train of their own, featuring electric-powered trains that can travel at much greater speeds. VNR submitted these plans in 1970 to the Ministry of Transportation.

At first there was some resistance from government officials, but eventually VNR was able to gain support, with funding slated for 1975. This was delayed due to the Kansallist Party's collapse that same year. VNR resubmitted their proposal to the new government in 1976, and it was finally granted funding in 1978.

Construction of the Våren Livet-Novika line began in March 1979. The project was called Uusirautahanke (New Rail Line Project). Alongside construction, VNR ordered 30 high-speed trains from Valkean Industrial Consortium (VTK) in June 1980. Over the next few years, VTK built the first prototype in 1981, clocking over 1,000,000 km in testing. The first production train, designated the SNR-1, was delivered to VNR on 7 August 1985.

The SNR was inaugurated on 26 May 1986, connecting the cities of Våren Livet and Novika. This made it one of Astyria's earliest commercial high-speed trains to enter service. To promote the new rail network, VNR launched a major publicity campaign promoting its speed, comfort, frequency, practicality, and accessibility. The trains instantly became popular with the Valkean public, proving to be considerably faster than competing forms of transport such as conventional trains, cars, and airplanes. Trains on the Våren Livet-Novika Line reached speeds of up to 275 km/h (171 mph), a number that would increase over the years with newer models.

The network's success brought about plans to expand the network to other cities in Valkea. However, VNR began to run into financial troubles as costs spiralled out of control. The company was reorganized as Valkean Railways Group in 1995.

In 2005, a modified SNR train achieved a top speed of 568.249 km/h (353.094 mph) on the Våren Livet-Mustakivi line, making it the fastest conventional train in Astyria.

Trains

These are the current series of high-speed trains running on the SNR network:

• SNR-1 - entered service in 1986, withdrawn in 2013
• SNR-2 - entered service in 1993,
• SNR-DC - entered service in 1995, features bi-level carriages
• SNR-3 - entered service in 1999
• SNR-DC2 - entered service in 2000, features bi-level carriages
• SNR-4 - entered service in 2007
• SNR-5 - entered service in 2015

• 

  SNR-1

• 

  SNR-2

• 

  SNR-DC

• 

  SNR-3

• 

  SNR-DC2

• 

  SNR-4

• 

  SNR-5

Network

The SNR Network is comprised ten main lines and four spur lines. These lines are grouped into seven corridors radiating from Våren Livet.

Line	Route description	Opened	Top speed
Northwestern Corridor
SNR Novika-Pikkala	Novika Kovanen Maarinnat	2010	300 km/h (186 mph)
	Maarinnat Isokorpi Andelmaa Niemisjoki Pikkala	2014	250 km/h (155 mph)
Northern Corridor
SNR Novika-Orrenkylä	Novika Muittari Harjattula Suotalo Orrenkylä	2003	300 km/h (186 mph)
SNR Novika-Tuorlahti	Novika Muittari Harjattula	2009	300 km/h (186 mph)
	Harjattula Sammaljoki Karhi Tuorlahti	2015	250 km/h (155 mph)
Northeastern Corridor
SNR Novika-Tuuri	Novika Paasola Kaunisto	2000	300 km/h (186 mph)
	Kaunisto Orivesi Kokousaali Tuuri	2005
SNR Tuuri-Raudur	Tuuri Raudur	2015	300 km/h (186 mph)
Central Corridor
SNR Våren Livet-Novika	Våren Livet Vuornaa Vuotola Airport	1986	275 km/h (171 mph)
	Vuotola Airport Korsalo Aittala Kauttu Novika	1986	330 km/h (205 mph)
SNR Våren Livet-Siippoo	Våren Livet Hintta Siippoo	2001	330 km/h (205 mph)
Eastern Corridor
SNR Våren Livet-Leposija	Våren Livet Barö Kukaskyla Mustakivi	1998	330 km/h (205 mph)
	Mustakivi Kurvinen Leposija	2007
SNR Våren Livet-Pederså	Våren Livet Barö Kukaskyla Mustakivi	1999	330 km/h (205 mph)
	Mustakivi Kuutsalo Pederså	2013	300 km/h (186 mph)
SNR Pederså-Dunaroch	Pederså Dunaroch	2015	300 km/h (186 mph)
SNR Våren Livet-Hopsu	Våren Livet Hopsu	2018	275 km/h (171 mph)
Southern Corridor
SNR Våren Livet-Osterlund	Våren Livet Sorvisto Utraslahti Ervasti Osterlund	2001	300 km/h (186 mph)
SNR Våren Livet-Brantevik	Våren Livet Sorvisto Utraslahti Ervasti	2001	300 km/h (186 mph)
	Ervasti Helgeboda Raatti Skeppsholm Brantevik	2006
SNR Brantevik-Varoi	Brantevik Malmby Varoi	2009	300 km/h (186 mph)
Southwestern Corridor
SNR Våren Livet-Dagsmark	Våren Livet Sorvisto Utraslahti Ervasti	1996	300 km/h (186 mph)
	Ervasti Pokela Korsholm Limapaa Solhelm Tuuvalo	2004
	Tuuvalo Vintala Karvio Kalkstrand Paloinen Dagsmark	2001
SNR Våren Livet-Sontu	Våren Livet Sorvisto Utraslahti Ervasti	2001	300 km/h (186 mph)
	Ervasti Pokela Korsholm	2004
	Korsholm Onkamo Kiesimä Sontu	2011