Helsinki Metro

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Image:Helsinki Metro train.jpg

The Helsinki Metro (Helsingin metro in Finnish; Helsingfors metro in Swedish), is the metro system in Helsinki, Finland. It is the world's most northern metro, and currently the only one in Finland. The system was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of planning, and was also the world's shortest metro at the time of its opening. It is operated by Helsinki City Transport (HKL).

The system maintains a single forked line with 16 stations, with a total length of 22.1 km (13.7 mi). It serves primarily the eastern suburbs of the city, but can also be used as a means of transport within central Helsinki. The number of total passenger journeys exceeds 50 million annually, according to HKL statistics.

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History

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The initial motion for building a metropolitan railway system in Helsinki was made in September 1955. A committee was set to work on the issue, and a first draft of a system was issued in March 1963. The suggested system had a total length of 86.5 km (53.8 mi) and contained a total of 108 stations. This was rejected after lengthy discussions as too extensive, and the city assembly decided to only commission one line, from Kamppi to Puotila in the east of the city.

The go-ahead for the construction of the first stage of the metro system was given on 7 May 1969, and it was expected to finish before 1977. A testing track from the depot in Roihupelto to Herttoniemi was finished in 1971. However, several problems came up in the testing stages, including corruption and faults in the rolling stock, and the system was not opened until 1982, five years behind schedule.

On 1 June 1982, the test drives were opened to the general public, but the system was not officially opened until 2 August 1982, 27 years after the initial motion to the city assembly had been made. The system originally had only six stations between the Central Railway Station and Itäkeskus, but it has since been expanded by ten additional stations, including a fork at Itäkeskus.

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Expansion of the network

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The new Kalasatama metro station between Sörnäinen and Kulosaari will be opened during 2006.

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Network

Image:Helsinki-metro-map.png Image:Helsinki Metro station Rastilla.jpg Image:Helsinki metro interior.jpg Image:Helsinki Metro train interior.jpg

The Helsinki Metro system currently consists of sixteen stations. The stations are located along a Y, whose central line runs from the city centre towards the eastern suburbs. The line forks at the Itäkeskus metro station. The six stations in central Helsinki are below surface, while the ten eastern stations are surface stations.

Trains on the metro system usually run every four or five minutes, and they alternate between the Mellunmäki (northern) and Vuosaari (eastern) branches. The metro stops at every station, and the names of the stations are announced in both Finnish and Swedish (with the exceptions of Central Railway Station, which is announced also in English, and Kaisaniemi, which is pronounced identically in Finnish and Swedish).

The metro is designed as a core transport facility, which means that extensive feeder bus transport links are provided between the stations and the surrounding districts. Taking a feeder bus to the metro is often the only option to get to the city centre from some districts. For example, since the construction of the metro, nearly all bus routes from Laajasalo have terminated at the Herttoniemi metro station.

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List of stations

Template:Main Ruoholahti - Itäkeskus:

Itäkeskus - Mellunmäki: (northern branch)

Itäkeskus - Vuosaari: (eastern branch)

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Access

The fact that most of the stations are located on the surface makes the metro system more friendly for passengers with mobility problems. There are no stairs on most sub-surface stations, and moving from street level from the stations can be done by escalators or lifts. The trains themselves have no steps either, and the platforms are always at the same level as the floor of the train.

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Ticketing

The ticketing scheme on the Metro is consistent with other forms of transport inside the city of Helsinki, managed by the Helsinki City Transport (HKL) agency. Single tickets can be bought from ticket machines at the stations or by SMS. A single ticket can be used to change for any other form of transport inside the city, and is valid for one hour. As of 2006, a single ticket costs two euros.

Passes issued by HKL or YTV are also valid on the Metro.

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Rolling stock

Image:Metro Helsinki Kulosaari Train.JPG

The trains on the Helsinki Metro are technologically similar to commuter trains on the VR lähiliikenne network, which serves the northern and western suburbs of Helsinki. The loading gauge is 1524 mm, as in all Finnish railway traffic. The electricity used by the metro trains is a 750 volt direct current, and it is drawn from an electricity track on the side of the metro tracks.

There are currently two different models of Metro Train in service. The M100 series was built by Strömberg in the late 1980s and the newer M200 series was built by Bombardier and has been used since 2001. Even though the system was built in the 1970s and 1980s, it is still modern compared to most other metros in the world.

The normal speed of the metro trains is 70 km/h (44 mph) inside the tunnels and 80 km/h (50 mph) on the open portion of the network. The points have a maximum structural speed of either 35 km/h (22 mph) or 60 km/h (37 mph).

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The future

The next major change to the Metro system will be the 2006 completion of the new Kalasatama metro station between Sörnäinen and Kulosaari. The new station will serve the new Kalasatama (Eastern Harbour) area, a former port facility that will be redeveloped as its functions are moved to the new Port of Vuosaari in the east of the city. Another new station is being planned in Roihuvuori, between Siilitie and Itäkeskus.

The City of Helsinki supports plans to extend the Metro to the neighbouring municipalities of Espoo in the west and Vantaa and Sipoo in the northeast. The municipalities themselves are not very supportive of the idea, and especially the proposed extension to southern Espoo (the so-called länsimetro) has provoked lots of discussion and political feuding both within Espoo and between the two municipalities. However, according to a poll conducted in 2005, 75% of people in Espoo favoured building the western extension, and currently (March 2006) it looks like the decision to build it may finally be soon made. Even if it is, the extension will not be in operation before some time in the 2010s.

A second Metro line from Laajasalo via Kamppi to Pasila north of the city centre, and possibly onwards to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, is also being planned. This is being taken into consideration in city plans and has been discussed by the city assembly, but does not look likely to be constructed before 2020 at the earliest. At the Kamppi station, a platform level for a crossing line was excavated already during the original construction, to prepare for this eventuality.

An inquiry has also been commenced concerning the replacement of the current, manually driven metro trains by automatic ones, operated without drivers. Until this is done, expansion of the system will not be possible as new and replacement parts for the current system, built in the 1970s, are increasingly difficult to obtain. No final decisions have yet been made on this issue.

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Statistics

According to the Helsinki City Transport (HKL) yearly report for 2003, the metro system had a total of 55.4 million passengers, who travelled a total of 404.1 million kilometres. The total turnover for the metro division of HKL was 16.9 million euros and it made a profit of 3.8 million.

The Metro is by far the cheapest form of transport in Helsinki to operate, with a cost of only 0.032 euros per passenger kilometre. The same figure for the second cheapest form - trams - was 0.211 euros.

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See also

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External links

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Template:Link FAde:Metro Helsinki es:Metro de Helsinki nl:Metro van Helsinki nn:Helsingfors Tunnelbana pl:Metro helsińskie fi:Helsingin metro sv:Helsingfors tunnelbana

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