Jokioinen Railway turns 125 years old this year. The railway was opened to traffic on December 9, 1898. However trains have been already runing on the track under construction before. The main owner of the railway company was the Jokioinen manor and the railway was built to meet the industrial needs of Jokioinen and Forssa, as the Turku-Toijala state railway did not connect to Jokioinen and Forssa but Humppila.
The length of the Jokioinen railway was 22.5 km and it ran from Humnppila station via Minkiö halt and Jokioinen station to Forssa. Passenger traffic lasted until 1954, and freight traffic was discontinued twenty years later in 1974.
The predecessor of the Jokioinen Museum Railway, the Forssa-Humppila Museum Railway operated museum trains already during the period of the Jokioinen Railway in 1971-73. After the closure of the line, there was a hard fight to save the line, and finally museum train service could be started again in in 1978 on the Minkiö-Jokioinen railway which was saved from demolition.
In 1994, the reconstructed Minkiö-Jokioinen railway line was opened, so museum train traffic could be again operated between Humppila and Jokioinen. Over the years, the operation has expanded and many wagons and locomotives have been added to the rolling stock. A brand new historic station building has been moved to Humppila and a new workshop hall in Minkiö was erected for vehicle repair and maintenance.
During the year 2023, the 125th anniversary of the Jokioinen railway will be celebrated with the Jokioinen Museum Railway events. The event dates are:
- Opening of the season, mobile day and Humppila day, Sun 11.6.
- Strongest of the Depot, Sun 18.6.
- Minkiö Farmers Market, Sun 2.7.
- Minkiö Harvest Market, Sat 12.8.
- Star Light Train, Sat 9.9.
- Santa Claus Train, Sat-Sun 2.-3.12.
This year, scheduled traffic runs on Sundays from the second Sunday in June to the end of July (June 11-July 30) and on the first three Saturdays of August (August 5-19). Even though the cost level has risen drastically, it was decided not to increase ticket prices. Instead, the aim is to achieve savings by reducing the kilometers run. Because of this, traffic starts a week later and ends a week earlier than before. The decision was also partly influenced by the fact that the corona period that has been going on for many years has significantly reduced the number of people from Talkoo who are active in traffic.
Despite the small cuts in traffic, the jubilee year is to be celebrated throughout the summer and early autumn, and to end the festivities handsomely with the traditional Santa Claus Train, which will be run almost 125 years after the service on the Jokioinen railway began!