The city of Helsinki and the neighbouring city of Vantaa have plans for a radical expansion of the Helsinki tram network within the 2020s and 2030s that would more than double the length of the network from 2021. If completed, the plans would both extend the current tram lines and build new light rail lines.[1]

Projects under construction

Laajasalo

The city council of Helsinki decided on 31 August 2016 to build a tramway to the island of Laajasalo,[2] located to the east of Helsinki city centre. The route will include three new bridges, the longest of which will be the longest in Finland at 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi), and its pylons one of the tallest structures in Helsinki. The bridges will have bicycle and pedestrian lanes in addition to the tramway, but no lanes for private cars. The total length of new double track, including tramways on Laajasalo itself, is about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).[3]

Kalasatama–Pasila line 13

A new 4.5 km (2.8 mi) line 13 is being constructed between Pasila and Kalasatama, due to be completed by August 2024.[4][5]

Approved projects

Vantaa light rail

The Vantaa city council approved the construction of a new 19.3 km (12.0 mi) light rail line from Mellunmäki to Helsinki Airport in May 2023. The line is projected to open in 2029 with an estimated daily ridership of 31,000.[6][7]

West Helsinki light rail

The Helsinki city council approved the general plan for the West Helsinki trams (Finnish: Länsi-Helsingin raitiotiet) in January 2021, with an estimated total cost of €160 million. The project, previously known as the Vihdintie light rail (Finnish: Vihdintien pikaraitiotie), includes a 5 km (3.1 mi) light rail line via Vihdintie towards Kannelmäki, and new city center tram tracks via Topeliuksenkatu to relieve traffic from the crowded track on Mannerheimintie. The new light rail line from the city center to Kannelmäki is estimated to have a daily ridership of 40,000 by 2030.[8] As of August 2023, construction was due to start in 2026.[9]

Planned expansions

Jätkäsaari and Hernesaari

The building of tramways in Jätkäsaari has proceeded along with the construction of the buildings of the new district. The use of bi-directional trams was considered for the tramway extensions,[10] but in the end, HKL decided to build the tracks with conventional return loops and to dismantle temporary loops as necessary.

As of August 2023, only the new turnaround loops in Tahitinkatu and Bunkkeri remain to be built. The completion of this stretch has been projected for 2022–2024. In the previous phases, tracks were extended from Ruoholahti to Saukonpaasi (opened 1 January 2012), from Kamppi to the old ferry terminal (opened 13 August 2012), from the old to the new ferry terminal (opened February 2017),[11] from Jätkäsaarenlaituri along Välimerenkatu street to the return loop at Saukonpaasi (opened August 2017) and from Saukonpaasi to the new ferry terminal (opened May 2021).

Various versions of the lines and routes to Jätkäsaari have been proposed since the beginning of the planning.[12][13][14][15][16] As of December 2017, lines 7, 8 and 9 are routed on Jätkäsaari according to the plan approved in 2015 (see Reorganisation). Line 6 awaits the completion of new tracks to Hernesaari. By 2024, line 6 will be rerouted from its current termini at Eiranranta to Hernesaari. It was extended from Hietalahti to Eiranranta in 2021.[14][17]

Line reorganisation

The Helsinki Regional Transport Authority is planning to re-organise the current lines as new light rail lines are being built.[18]

In April 2022, the plan initially included small- to medium-length extensions, such as the works in Itä-Pasila and Jätkäsaari, and the extension to Laajasalo. Under this plan, the tram lines at the end of 2027 would be arranged as follows:[19]

From To Line No. Via
Eira Käpylä 1 Bulevardi, Töölö, Helsinginkatu, Sörnäinen (M), Vallila
Olympia Terminala Itä-Pasila 2 Kauppatori, Aleksanterinkatu, Töölö, Eläintarha, Pasila station
Olympia Terminala Meilahti 3 Bulevardi, Central Railway Station, Kallio, Alppila, Eläintarha
Katajanokka Munkkiniemi 4 Aleksanterinkatu, Mannerheimintie, Meilahti
Katajanokka Terminal Central Railway Station (loop) 5 Aleksanterinkatu
Hernesaari Arabianranta 6 Eiranranta, Bulevardi, Central Railway Station, Sörnäinen (M), Vallila
Jätkäsaari Meilahden sairaala 7 West Harbour, Kamppi (M), Central Railway Station, Aleksanterinkatu, Kruununhaka, Sörnäinen (M), Vallila, Pasila station, Eläintarha
West Harbour Arabianranta 8 Jätkäsaari, Ruoholahti (M), Töölö, Helsinginkatu, Sörnäinen (M), Vallila
West Harbour Ilmala 9 Jätkäsaari, Kamppi (M), Central Railway Station, Kallio, Harju, Pasila station
Kirurgi Pikku Huopalahti 10 Mannerheimintie, Meilahti, Ruskeasuo
Länsi-Pasila Kruunuvuorenranta 11 Pasila station, Kalasatama, Nihti, Crown Bridges
Hakaniemi (M) Yliskylä 12 Nihti, Crown Bridges, Kruunuvuorenranta
Nihti Länsi-Pasila 13 Kalasatama (M), Kyläsaari, Vallilanlaakso, Pasila station

From roughly 2035, the lines would be arranged as follows:[19][20]

From To Line No. Frequency (tph) Via
Katajanokka Terminal Käpylä 1 6 Kruununhaka, Central Railway Station, Kamppi (M), Töölö, Helsinginkatu, Vallila
Eira Messukeskus 2 8 Kamppi (M), Töölö, Taka-Töölö, Eläintarha, Pasila station
Kaivopuistob Meilahti 3 6 Bulevardi, Central Railway Station, Kallio, Alppila, Eläintarha
Kirurgi Munkkiniemi 4 8 Töölö, Taka-Töölö, Meilahti
Kauppatori Pohjois-Pasila 5[c] 6 Aleksanterinkatu, Mannerheimintie, Eläintarha, Pasila, Ilmala
Kolmikulma Arabia 6 6 Central Railway Station, Sörnäinen (M), Vallila
Kaivopuistob Meilahden sairaala 7 6 Kauppatori, Kruununhaka, Kallio, Sörnäinen (M), Vallila, Pasila station, Eläintarha
West Harbour Arabianranta 8 6 Jätkäsaari, Ruoholahti (M), Töölö, Helsinginkatu, Sörnäinen (M), Vallila
Jätkäsaari Ilmala 9 6 Jätkäsaari, Bulevardi, Central Railway Station, Kallio, Harju, Pasila station
Katajanokka Pikku Huopalahti 10 8 Aleksanterinkatu, Mannerheimintie, Meilahti, Ruskeasuo
Kruunuvuorenranta Länsi-Pasila 11 6 Crown Bridges, Nihti, Kalasatama (M), Hermanni, Pasila station
Central Railway Station, later from Jätkäsaari[d] Yliskylä 12 12 during weekday peak, otherwise 6 (West Harbour, Kamppi (M), Central Railway Station,[d]) Hakaniemi (M), Nihti, Crown Bridges, Laajasalo
Central Railway Station (loop) Länsi-Pasila 13 6 Aleksanterinkatu, Kruununhaka, Hakaniemi (M), Crown Bridges, Nihti, Kalasatama (M), Hermanni, Pasila station
Erottaja, later from Hernesaari[d] Kannelmäki 14 8 (Eiranranta, Bulevardi,[d]) Mannerheimintie, Meilahti, Niemenmäki, Munkkivuori, Valimo, Lassila
Pasila station Myllypuro (M) 15[a] 8 during weekday peak, otherwise 6 Koskela, Viikinmäki, Latokartano
Central Railway Station Helsinki-Malmi Airport, later Ylä-Malmi[d] or Jakomäki[d] 16 8 during weekday peak, otherwise 6 Sörnäinen (M), Vallila, Koskela, Viikinmäki, Latokartano, Tattariharju (Ala-Malmi, Malmi (Ylä-Malmi extension)[d]) or (Suurmetsä, Vaarala (Jakomäki extension)[d])
Central Railway Station Pakila 17 8 Sörnäinen (M), Vallila, Käpylä, Metsälä, Maunula
Keilaniemi (M) Itäkeskus (M) 550 12 during weekday peak, otherwise 6 Aalto University (M), Ring I, Laajalahti, Säteri, Leppävaara, Vermo, Pitäjänmäki, Etelä-Haaga, Pohjois-Haaga, Maunula, Oulunkylä, Viikki, Roihupelto
Mellunmäki (M) Helsinki Airport 570 6 Länsimäki, Vaarala, Hakunila, Kuninkaala, Tikkurila station, Veromies, Virkamies, Aviapolis
  • a Lines 2 and 3 do not turn around at their shared terminus at the Olympia Terminal: they only change their line numbers.
  • b Lines 3 and 7 will not turn around at their shared terminus at Kaivopuisto: they will only change their line numbers.
  • c This line and the tramways that comprise it are only tentatively proposed.
  • d This extension and the tramways that comprise it are only tentatively proposed.

Other possibilities

A construction of a light rail or tram system has also been proposed as a possible solution of arranging public transport in the Östersundom area annexed by Helsinki from Vantaa and Sipoo on 1 January 2009. An extension of the Helsinki Metro was originally planned as the main form of public transport for this area, but on 20 February 2009 a newspaper reported that a light rail system is being studied as an alternative to supplement or replace the Metro connection to this area due to the lower costs of a light rail link.[21][22] If built, the light rail link could be extended as far east as Porvoo.[22] Östersundom is located in eastern Helsinki, and as such the proposed new system would be completely unconnected with the currently existing tram system. It could, however, connect with the future Jokeri line in Itäkeskus.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Salomaa, Marja (2021-05-29). "Helsingin ratikkavallankumous nostaa asuntojen hintoja lukuisilla alueilla, asuntosijoittaja vinkkaa sijoituskohteesta – "Hymyilyttää"". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  2. ↑ "Helsingin kaupunginvaltuusto päätti: Kruunuvuorenrantaan rakennetaan Suomen pisin siltayhteys" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  3. ↑ "Kruunusillat, hankesuunnitelma" (PDF) (in Finnish). City of Helsinki. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-11. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  4. ↑ Salomaa, Marja (2023-07-20). "Helsingin uuden raitiolinjan asennustyöt alkoivat". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-01.
  5. ↑ Siippainen, Aapo (2023-01-22). "Ensin tulee raidejokeri, sitten liikkeelle lähtee tämä – näin kiistelty 4,5 kilometrin rata halkoo Helsingin puistoja". Helsingin Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-01.
  6. ↑ Salomaa, Marja (2023-05-22). "Vantaasta tulee Suomen neljäs ratikkakaupunki". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-01.
  7. ↑ "Vantaa tram plan". Railway Gazette International. Vol. 179, no. 7. 2023-07-01. p. 11. ISSN 0373-5346.
  8. ↑ Bäckgren, Nora (2021-01-21). "Länsi-Helsingin raitioteiden suuri uudistus etenee – Valtuutetut väittelivät pitkään kustannusten paisumisesta". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  9. ↑ Kantola, Anna (2023-08-11). "Helsinkiin sovitellaan jälleen uutta pikaratikkaa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  10. ↑ Antero Alku
  11. ↑ https://www.hel.fi/uutiset/fi/helsinki/lansisatama-uusi-terminaali
  12. ↑ Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos
  13. ↑ Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos
  14. 1 2 Joukkoliikennelautakunta
  15. ↑ Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta
  16. ↑ Mirva Haltia-Holmberg
  17. ↑ Mirva Haltia-Holmberg
  18. ↑ "Raitiovaunulinjojen mylläyksessä esillä kaksi vaihtoehtoa – Munkkiniemi saattaa säilyttää suoran yhteyden Stockmannille". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2021-09-10. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  19. 1 2 "Linjastoluonnos". HSL.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  20. ↑ "Linjastoluonnos". Remix. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  21. ↑ Marketta Karjalainen
  22. 1 2 YLE

Bibliography

Helsinki City Transport

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