The problem of railway ownership in 19th century Finland

Abstract

Dr. Oredsson's extremely able and original doctoral dissertation! is concerned primarily with the issue of state versus private railway policy in certain countries. So far as Finland is concerned, he confines himself to strategic considerations, dismissing the subject of ownership with the statement: ‘All railways of major importance were built by the State’ (p. 23). The impression gained by the reader is that from the outset State ownership was regarded as self-evident in Finland. This, however, was not the case. My intention in this note is not to criticise Oredsson, but to supplement his account of the railway policy of Sweden's eastern neighbour.