The
Western Metro Extension will be an extension of the
Helsinki MetroThe Helsinki Metro , is the metro system in Helsinki, Finland. It is the World's most northern metro system, and currently the only one in Finland. The system was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of planning...
system from central
HelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
,
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, to the neighbouring city of
EspooEspoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....
. The new stretch of line will extend from the existing
Ruoholahti metro stationRuoholahti metro station is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Ruoholahti in Helsinki's southwestern city centre. Ruoholahti is the westernmost metro station in Helsinki, and will continue to be until the extension to Espoo, known as Länsimetro under construction is...
via the island of
LauttasaariLauttasaari is an island and neighbourhood of Western Helsinki , about 3 kilometres west of the city centre....
, the Aalto University School of Science and Technology (at
OtaniemiOtaniemi , or Otnäs , is a district of Espoo, Finland. It is located near the border of Helsinki, the capital of Finland....
), and
TapiolaTapiola or Hagalund is a district of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo...
, to a new terminus at
MatinkyläMatinkylä or Mattby is one of the major urban areas of Espoo, a city on the southern coast of Finland. Matinkylä is understood as the area between the Helsinki-Hanko highway and the coast of the Gulf of Finland, between the areas of Haukilahti and Iivisniemi.About 30 000 people live in the...
. A possible future phase might extend the line to Kivenlahti.
Final approval for a 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) route was granted on 4 April 2007, and the construction began in November 2009. Preliminary construction is currently scheduled for May 2011, and then the main construction phase will start. Rock blasting is expected to be complete by the end of 2012, followed by the fitting out of the tunnels. The extension is currently expected to open for service at the end of 2015.
History
The
Länsimetro was first proposed already when the Helsinki Metro system was first being designed in the 1950s. After the two forks of the Metro line eastwards from Helsinki had been completed, the
Länsimetro continued to be proposed. Until the early 2000s, Espoo continued to reject such a proposal.
Espoo is the second most populous city in Finland, currently served by roads, bus transport and local train. Espoo is connected to Helsinki by the
Rantarata , is a railway running between Helsinki Central railway station and Turku railway stations in Finland. Its first segment, linking Turku to Karis, was commissioned in 1895, and work began the following year. The Turku–Karis track was opened for temporary traffic on 1 April 1899 and for permanent...
coastal railway, and by two motorways:
Finnish national road 1The Finnish national road 1 is the main route between the major cities of Helsinki and Turku in southern Finland. It runs from Munkkiniemi in Helsinki to the VI District of Turku, and is part of the European route E18...
(
) in the north and the Western highway (
) in south. As the primary passageway between southern Espoo and central Helsinki, the
Länsiväyläis a motorway in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, mainly at the Helsinki conurbation. It is part of the Finnish national road 51. The road begins in Ruoholahti in western Helsinki and continues west through the island of Lauttasaari and then across the city border to Espoo. The Länsiväylä road...
has been repeatedly enlarged to cope with congestion, but was still seeing chronic traffic jams at certain lines of the day. Widening the
Länsiväylä had not solved the traffic jams, instead moving them closer to the centre of Helsinki.
Since the 1990s, the Finnish state and the city of Helsinki have been ready to finance their portions of the project and commence construction, but Espoo for a long time opposed the project, mainly because of financing: the state had only agreed to pay 30% of the costs and Espoo had been wanting the state to contribute at least 70%.
Helsinki made an official suggestion to Espoo to construct the
Länsimetro in 1997. A year later, on 8 December 1998 the city council of Espoo had decided to only support extending the metro system to Tapiola, leaving off the planned continuation to Matinkylä and even Kivenlahti. On 16 February 1999, Espoo changed its statement and showed support for the plans to extend the metro to Matinkylä (with a vote in favour of 48 to 18).
The
Länsimetro issue was reawakened again in 2002 when a new plan for public traffic in the capital area by
Helsinki Metropolitan Area CouncilThe Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council was a co-operation agency operating in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, now replaced by HSL and HSY. The organisation had a few responsibilities, most notably regional public transport and waste management. It was subordinated to the city councils of the four...
(YTV) was being made. YTV prioritised the
Länsimetro over extension of a light rail line in to Espoo, a view that differed from that taken by Espoo city council. A compromise solution to investigate a "southern Espoo railway connection" (allowing for an express tram) was added, and both this railway connection and a light rail line were scheduled for 2010 to 2020.
According to a survey requested by
Helsingin SanomatHelsingin Sanomat is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. In 2008, its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays and 468,505 on Sundays...
in late 2005, 77% of Espoo residents and 90% of Helsinki residents were in favour of the Western Metro extension.
On 25 September 2006, the Espoo city council made an official decision about whether to adopt the
Länsimetro. The result was 45 votes to 19 in favour of the metro..
After Espoo city council had passed the decision allowing tax-generated income to be put towards the extension project—the worry was that such a large expense could conceivably bankrupt Espoo. In response, critics of the decision proceeded to take the municipality of Espoo to the highest administrative court on a charge of "neglect in the decision-making"; since administrative courts cannot rule on the substance of the decision, only the formal procedure was questioned.
Helsinki City Council ratified the plan for the extension on 11 November 2009, leading to construction work starting on 24 November 2009. Judicial complaints and appeals postponed the start for a year or so, but all were rejected by the
Supreme Administrative CourtThe Supreme Administrative Court of Finland is the highest court in the Finnish administrative court system, parallel to the Supreme Court of Finland. Its jurisdiction covers the legality of the decisions of government officials, and its decisions are final...
. The work started in January 2010 with the extension of the tunnels at the
Ruoholahti metro stationRuoholahti metro station is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Ruoholahti in Helsinki's southwestern city centre. Ruoholahti is the westernmost metro station in Helsinki, and will continue to be until the extension to Espoo, known as Länsimetro under construction is...
, and first
rock blastingRock blasting is the controlled use of explosives to excavate, break down or remove rock. It is practised most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam or road construction...
in Espoo was done in August 2010. As of August 2011, 92% of the contracts for tunneling and station building are signed. Tunnelling of the rail tunnel is expected to be finished in 2013, and construction of the first stations will begin in 2012. The metro will open for traffic in 2015.
Controversy and alternatives
In 2002, a joint study by the City of Helsinki, the City of Espoo and the Ministry of Transport and Communications compared the impact of the metro extension with building a
bus rapid transitBus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
system. The running costs of the two were estimated to be roughly equivalent. The metro would reduce emissions in Helsinki, but feeder buses would increase them in Espoo. The metro would make travel from parts of Espoo near the new stations to Helsinki faster and more convenient, but would increase the travel time from outlying areas.
A second study by the same parties, published in 2004, investigated the alternative option of a
light railLight rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
line. Supporters of the light rail line claimed it would be cheaper, faster to implement, and more environment-friendly than a traditional metro line. The primary disadvantage of the metro was seen to be having to build denser housing along the line to make it more profitable. Espoo is a relatively loosely built city with a lot of detached houses leading to a reputation as an
upper middle classThe upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term "lower middle class", which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum, and to the broader term "middle...
city. There have been fears that the building of the would create tighter residential centres around each new metro station, and the Espoo "image" might suffer.
An advantage of the metro line was the existing metro network, and coupling the light rail line to the metro network would have caused all passengers travelling from
east HelsinkiEast Helsinki is an area in Helsinki, Finland, usually thought to comprise the city's eastern and south-eastern major districts , including the districts of Vartiokylä, Myllypuro, Mellunkylä, Vuosaari, Herttoniemi, Laajasalo and Kulosaari...
to Espoo to switch train systems. The metro option would allow for continuous trips from all stations in Espoo to all Helsinki stations from Ruoholahti to
KalasatamaKalasatama or Fiskhamnen is a station on the Helsinki Metro, in the capital city of Finland. The station was opened on 1 January 2007, and it serves the eastern part of the central Helsinki district of Sörnäinen...
and beyond.
Opponents of the light rail line claimed it to be an additional form of rail transport to the already diversely composed rail transport network in the capital area. Supporters claimed that the light rail line could be easily integrated to the existing
Helsinki tramThe Helsinki tram network forms part of the Helsinki public transport system organised by Helsinki Regional Transport Authority and operated by Helsinki City Transport in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki. The trams are the main means of transport in the city centre. 56.6 million trips were made...
network, with the work required being cheaper than that of a metro line.
In 2006, an informal private-sector shadow plan for a light rail alternative called TramWest was released. According to critics, the plan underestimated costs and the line was partly placed in areas where it would have been impossible to implement. TramWest also included many
level crossingA level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
s, which, if done badly, would slow down public transport. The plan would also have caused the parks designed into the
KiasmaKiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name kiasma, Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. The museum exhibits the contemporary art collection of the Finnish National Gallery founded in 1990...
and Helsinki music house areas to be cut through with a light rail line. The plan would have caused all lines to end at the Elielinaukio square next to the central railway station without integrating to any existing or future railway line. A revised version of the plan in 2008, claiming to address most of these concerns, was released in early 2008. The new plan proposes connecting Espoo to both the
Länsiväylä and city centre areas, but with the eastern extremity relocated from Elielinaukio square to either
ViikkiViikki is a neighbourhood of about 5,500 inhabitants in Helsinki, Finland. It is located at the bottom of Vanhankaupunginlahti bay, some 7–10 km from the city centre....
or
LaajasaloLaajasalo is a group of islands that forms a neighbourhood in southern Helsinki, the capital of Finland. As of 2005, it had a population of 16,486....
.
Cost
Preliminary plans, made in 2000 and 2001, cited the cost of the metro extension to Matinkylä to be about €400 million. When the Espoo city council decided on construction of the metro in 2004, the estimated price was €452 million. In September 2007, the estimated price of the was at least €530 million.. In December 2007, estimated that the price will rise to at least €600 million. According to Louko, the price of the excavation work has risen a third more than that of other ground construction work—with the factors for the increase including simultaneous excavation work, construction of the in 2009 and security requirements.
the estimated cost had risen to over €800 million.
Current project
The cities of Espoo and Helsinki jointly founded a company called (Western Metro Limited) to implement the metro extension from the present
RuoholahtiRuoholahti is a quarter in Helsinki, part of the Länsisatama neighbourhood and Kampinmalmi district. The name means Grass Bay and is pronounced...
to Matinkylä. The CEO of the joint company is Matti Kokkinen.
Conditions
Espoo's criterion for acceptance was that planning for the second stage of the line should also be started. The first stage of the is expected to be completed in 2013. The Espoo city council has set a number of requirements for the project:
- The Finnish state must commit to financing the extension all the way to .
- The existing heavy railway line between Leppävaara
Leppävaara or Alberga is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. A major traffic hub in the Greater Helsinki region, the Rantarata rail line and Kehä I, the busiest road in Finland, cross in Leppävaara. The Sello Shopping Centre is also located there...
and Espoo CentreEspoon keskus is the central district of Espoo, the second biggest city of Finland and the administrative centre with the city hall of Espoo. The areas of Kiltakallio, Kirkkojärvi, Saarniraivio, Suna, Suvela and Tuomarila belong to Espoon keskus...
should be widened from two tracks to three, in conjunction with the Länsimetro project.
- The orbital "Joker" bus line should be converted to a light rail line/tram, as soon as possible.
- The orbital Kehä I
Ring I is the busiest of all highways in Finland, carrying up to 113,000 vehicles per day. It is the innermost of the three beltways in the Greater Helsinki region, numbered as regional route 101 and runs from the eastern-most part of Espoo to Itäkeskus in eastern Helsinki. The total length is ,...
(Ring I) ring road should be improved.
- The orbital Kehä II
Ring II in the region of Espoo is one of the major highways in Finland, . The road runs north-south, connecting Turuntie in the north, to Länsiväylä in the south...
(Ring II) ring road should be continued around into Helsinki, via Vihdintie (Vichtisvägen), to Hämeenlinnanväylä (Tavastehusleden).
Projected route
A metro line extension was accepted as a basis for further planning in 2000. The locations of the stations was confirmed by the cities of Espoo and Helsinki in June 2007. The extension will be completely underground with the following stations (tentative names):
The
Western Metro Extension ({{lang-fi|
Länsimetro}}, {{lang-sv|
Västmetron}}) will be an extension of the
Helsinki MetroThe Helsinki Metro , is the metro system in Helsinki, Finland. It is the World's most northern metro system, and currently the only one in Finland. The system was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of planning...
system from central
HelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
,
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, to the neighbouring city of
EspooEspoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....
. The new stretch of line will extend from the existing
Ruoholahti metro stationRuoholahti metro station is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Ruoholahti in Helsinki's southwestern city centre. Ruoholahti is the westernmost metro station in Helsinki, and will continue to be until the extension to Espoo, known as Länsimetro under construction is...
via the island of
LauttasaariLauttasaari is an island and neighbourhood of Western Helsinki , about 3 kilometres west of the city centre....
, the Aalto University School of Science and Technology (at
OtaniemiOtaniemi , or Otnäs , is a district of Espoo, Finland. It is located near the border of Helsinki, the capital of Finland....
), and
TapiolaTapiola or Hagalund is a district of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo...
, to a new terminus at
MatinkyläMatinkylä or Mattby is one of the major urban areas of Espoo, a city on the southern coast of Finland. Matinkylä is understood as the area between the Helsinki-Hanko highway and the coast of the Gulf of Finland, between the areas of Haukilahti and Iivisniemi.About 30 000 people live in the...
. A possible future phase might extend the line to Kivenlahti.
Final approval for a 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) route was granted on 4 April 2007, and the construction began in November 2009. Preliminary construction is currently scheduled for May 2011, and then the main construction phase will start. Rock blasting is expected to be complete by the end of 2012, followed by the fitting out of the tunnels. The extension is currently expected to open for service at the end of 2015.
History
The
Länsimetro was first proposed already when the Helsinki Metro system was first being designed in the 1950s. After the two forks of the Metro line eastwards from Helsinki had been completed, the
Länsimetro continued to be proposed. Until the early 2000s, Espoo continued to reject such a proposal.
Espoo is the second most populous city in Finland, currently served by roads, bus transport and local train. Espoo is connected to Helsinki by the
Rantarata , is a railway running between Helsinki Central railway station and Turku railway stations in Finland. Its first segment, linking Turku to Karis, was commissioned in 1895, and work began the following year. The Turku–Karis track was opened for temporary traffic on 1 April 1899 and for permanent...
coastal railway, and by two motorways:
Finnish national road 1The Finnish national road 1 is the main route between the major cities of Helsinki and Turku in southern Finland. It runs from Munkkiniemi in Helsinki to the VI District of Turku, and is part of the European route E18...
(
{{lang|fi|Turun moottoritie}}) in the north and the Western highway (
{{lang|fi|Länsiväyläis a motorway in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, mainly at the Helsinki conurbation. It is part of the Finnish national road 51. The road begins in Ruoholahti in western Helsinki and continues west through the island of Lauttasaari and then across the city border to Espoo. The Länsiväylä road...
}}) in south. As the primary passageway between southern Espoo and central Helsinki, the
Länsiväyläis a motorway in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, mainly at the Helsinki conurbation. It is part of the Finnish national road 51. The road begins in Ruoholahti in western Helsinki and continues west through the island of Lauttasaari and then across the city border to Espoo. The Länsiväylä road...
has been repeatedly enlarged to cope with congestion, but was still seeing chronic traffic jams at certain lines of the day. Widening the
Länsiväylä had not solved the traffic jams, instead moving them closer to the centre of Helsinki.
Since the 1990s, the Finnish state and the city of Helsinki have been ready to finance their portions of the project and commence construction, but Espoo for a long time opposed the project, mainly because of financing: the state had only agreed to pay 30% of the costs and Espoo had been wanting the state to contribute at least 70%.
Helsinki made an official suggestion to Espoo to construct the
Länsimetro in 1997. A year later, on 8 December 1998 the city council of Espoo had decided to only support extending the metro system to Tapiola, leaving off the planned continuation to Matinkylä and even Kivenlahti. On 16 February 1999, Espoo changed its statement and showed support for the plans to extend the metro to Matinkylä (with a vote in favour of 48 to 18).
The
Länsimetro issue was reawakened again in 2002 when a new plan for public traffic in the capital area by
Helsinki Metropolitan Area CouncilThe Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council was a co-operation agency operating in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, now replaced by HSL and HSY. The organisation had a few responsibilities, most notably regional public transport and waste management. It was subordinated to the city councils of the four...
(YTV) was being made. YTV prioritised the
Länsimetro over extension of a light rail line in to Espoo, a view that differed from that taken by Espoo city council. A compromise solution to investigate a "southern Espoo railway connection" (allowing for an express tram) was added, and both this railway connection and a light rail line were scheduled for 2010 to 2020.
According to a survey requested by
Helsingin SanomatHelsingin Sanomat is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. In 2008, its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays and 468,505 on Sundays...
in late 2005, 77% of Espoo residents and 90% of Helsinki residents were in favour of the Western Metro extension.
On 25 September 2006, the Espoo city council made an official decision about whether to adopt the
Länsimetro. The result was 45 votes to 19 in favour of the metro..
After Espoo city council had passed the decision allowing tax-generated income to be put towards the extension project—the worry was that such a large expense could conceivably bankrupt Espoo. In response, critics of the decision proceeded to take the municipality of Espoo to the highest administrative court on a charge of "neglect in the decision-making"; since administrative courts cannot rule on the substance of the decision, only the formal procedure was questioned.
Helsinki City Council ratified the plan for the extension on 11 November 2009, leading to construction work starting on 24 November 2009. Judicial complaints and appeals postponed the start for a year or so, but all were rejected by the
Supreme Administrative CourtThe Supreme Administrative Court of Finland is the highest court in the Finnish administrative court system, parallel to the Supreme Court of Finland. Its jurisdiction covers the legality of the decisions of government officials, and its decisions are final...
. The work started in January 2010 with the extension of the tunnels at the
Ruoholahti metro stationRuoholahti metro station is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Ruoholahti in Helsinki's southwestern city centre. Ruoholahti is the westernmost metro station in Helsinki, and will continue to be until the extension to Espoo, known as Länsimetro under construction is...
, and first
rock blastingRock blasting is the controlled use of explosives to excavate, break down or remove rock. It is practised most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam or road construction...
in Espoo was done in August 2010. As of August 2011, 92% of the contracts for tunneling and station building are signed. Tunnelling of the rail tunnel is expected to be finished in 2013, and construction of the first stations will begin in 2012. The metro will open for traffic in 2015.
Controversy and alternatives
In 2002, a joint study by the City of Helsinki, the City of Espoo and the Ministry of Transport and Communications compared the impact of the metro extension with building a
bus rapid transitBus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
system. The running costs of the two were estimated to be roughly equivalent. The metro would reduce emissions in Helsinki, but feeder buses would increase them in Espoo. The metro would make travel from parts of Espoo near the new stations to Helsinki faster and more convenient, but would increase the travel time from outlying areas.
A second study by the same parties, published in 2004, investigated the alternative option of a
light railLight rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
line. Supporters of the light rail line claimed{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}} it would be cheaper, faster to implement, and more environment-friendly than a traditional metro line. The primary disadvantage of the metro was seen to be{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}} having to build denser housing along the line to make it more profitable. Espoo is a relatively loosely built city with a lot of detached houses leading to a reputation as an
upper middle classThe upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term "lower middle class", which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum, and to the broader term "middle...
city. There have been fears{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}} that the building of the {{lang|fi|
Länsimetro}} would create tighter residential centres around each new metro station, and the Espoo "image" might suffer.
An advantage of the metro line was the existing metro network, and coupling the light rail line to the metro network would have caused all passengers travelling from
east HelsinkiEast Helsinki is an area in Helsinki, Finland, usually thought to comprise the city's eastern and south-eastern major districts , including the districts of Vartiokylä, Myllypuro, Mellunkylä, Vuosaari, Herttoniemi, Laajasalo and Kulosaari...
to Espoo to switch train systems. The metro option would allow for continuous trips from all stations in Espoo to all Helsinki stations from Ruoholahti to
KalasatamaKalasatama or Fiskhamnen is a station on the Helsinki Metro, in the capital city of Finland. The station was opened on 1 January 2007, and it serves the eastern part of the central Helsinki district of Sörnäinen...
and beyond.
Opponents of the light rail line claimed it to be an additional form of rail transport to the already diversely composed rail transport network in the capital area. Supporters claimed that the light rail line could be easily integrated to the existing
Helsinki tramThe Helsinki tram network forms part of the Helsinki public transport system organised by Helsinki Regional Transport Authority and operated by Helsinki City Transport in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki. The trams are the main means of transport in the city centre. 56.6 million trips were made...
network, with the work required being cheaper than that of a metro line.
In 2006, an informal private-sector shadow plan for a light rail alternative called TramWest was released. According to critics, the plan underestimated costs and the line was partly placed in areas where it would have been impossible to implement. TramWest also included many
level crossingA level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
s, which, if done badly, would slow down public transport. The plan would also have caused the parks designed into the
KiasmaKiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name kiasma, Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. The museum exhibits the contemporary art collection of the Finnish National Gallery founded in 1990...
and Helsinki music house areas to be cut through with a light rail line. The plan would have caused all lines to end at the Elielinaukio square next to the central railway station without integrating to any existing or future railway line. A revised version of the plan in 2008, claiming to address most of these concerns, was released in early 2008. The new plan proposes connecting Espoo to both the
Länsiväylä and city centre areas, but with the eastern extremity relocated from Elielinaukio square to either
ViikkiViikki is a neighbourhood of about 5,500 inhabitants in Helsinki, Finland. It is located at the bottom of Vanhankaupunginlahti bay, some 7–10 km from the city centre....
or
LaajasaloLaajasalo is a group of islands that forms a neighbourhood in southern Helsinki, the capital of Finland. As of 2005, it had a population of 16,486....
.
Cost
Preliminary plans, made in 2000 and 2001, cited the cost of the metro extension to Matinkylä to be about €400 million. When the Espoo city council decided on construction of the metro in 2004, the estimated price was €452 million. In September 2007, the estimated price of the {{lang|fi|
Länsimetro}} was at least €530 million.. In December 2007, {{lang|fi|Olavi Louko}} estimated that the price will rise to at least €600 million. According to Louko, the price of the excavation work has risen a third more than that of other ground construction work—with the factors for the increase including simultaneous excavation work, construction of the {{lang|fi|
Kehärata}} in 2009 and security requirements.
{{As of|2008}} the estimated cost had risen to over €800 million.
Current project
The cities of Espoo and Helsinki jointly founded a company called {{lang|fi|Länsimetro Oy}} (Western Metro Limited) to implement the metro extension from the present
RuoholahtiRuoholahti is a quarter in Helsinki, part of the Länsisatama neighbourhood and Kampinmalmi district. The name means Grass Bay and is pronounced...
to Matinkylä{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}. The CEO of the joint company is Matti Kokkinen.
Conditions
Espoo's criterion for acceptance was that planning for the second stage of the line should also be started. The first stage of the {{lang|fi|
Länsimetro}} is expected to be completed in 2013. The Espoo city council has set a number of requirements for the project:
- The Finnish state must commit to financing the {{lang|fi|Länsimetro}} extension all the way to {{lang|fi|Kivenlahti}} ({{lang|sv|Stensvik}}).
- The existing heavy railway line between Leppävaara
Leppävaara or Alberga is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. A major traffic hub in the Greater Helsinki region, the Rantarata rail line and Kehä I, the busiest road in Finland, cross in Leppävaara. The Sello Shopping Centre is also located there...
and Espoo CentreEspoon keskus is the central district of Espoo, the second biggest city of Finland and the administrative centre with the city hall of Espoo. The areas of Kiltakallio, Kirkkojärvi, Saarniraivio, Suna, Suvela and Tuomarila belong to Espoon keskus...
should be widened from two tracks to three, in conjunction with the Länsimetro project.
- The orbital "Joker" bus line ({{lang-fi|Jokeri-linja}}, {{lang-sv|Jokerlinjen}}) should be converted to a light rail line/tram, as soon as possible.
- The orbital Kehä I
Ring I is the busiest of all highways in Finland, carrying up to 113,000 vehicles per day. It is the innermost of the three beltways in the Greater Helsinki region, numbered as regional route 101 and runs from the eastern-most part of Espoo to Itäkeskus in eastern Helsinki. The total length is ,...
(Ring I) ring road should be improved.
- The orbital Kehä II
Ring II in the region of Espoo is one of the major highways in Finland, . The road runs north-south, connecting Turuntie in the north, to Länsiväylä in the south...
(Ring II) ring road should be continued around into Helsinki, via Vihdintie (Vichtisvägen), to Hämeenlinnanväylä (Tavastehusleden).
Projected route
A metro line extension was accepted as a basis for further planning in 2000. The locations of the stations was confirmed by the cities of Espoo and Helsinki in June 2007. The extension will be completely underground with the following stations (tentative names):
{{bs-header|Ruoholahti–Matinkylä}}
The
Western Metro Extension ({{lang-fi|
Länsimetro}}, {{lang-sv|
Västmetron}}) will be an extension of the
Helsinki MetroThe Helsinki Metro , is the metro system in Helsinki, Finland. It is the World's most northern metro system, and currently the only one in Finland. The system was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of planning...
system from central
HelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
,
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, to the neighbouring city of
EspooEspoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....
. The new stretch of line will extend from the existing
Ruoholahti metro stationRuoholahti metro station is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Ruoholahti in Helsinki's southwestern city centre. Ruoholahti is the westernmost metro station in Helsinki, and will continue to be until the extension to Espoo, known as Länsimetro under construction is...
via the island of
LauttasaariLauttasaari is an island and neighbourhood of Western Helsinki , about 3 kilometres west of the city centre....
, the Aalto University School of Science and Technology (at
OtaniemiOtaniemi , or Otnäs , is a district of Espoo, Finland. It is located near the border of Helsinki, the capital of Finland....
), and
TapiolaTapiola or Hagalund is a district of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo...
, to a new terminus at
MatinkyläMatinkylä or Mattby is one of the major urban areas of Espoo, a city on the southern coast of Finland. Matinkylä is understood as the area between the Helsinki-Hanko highway and the coast of the Gulf of Finland, between the areas of Haukilahti and Iivisniemi.About 30 000 people live in the...
. A possible future phase might extend the line to Kivenlahti.
Final approval for a 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) route was granted on 4 April 2007, and the construction began in November 2009. Preliminary construction is currently scheduled for May 2011, and then the main construction phase will start. Rock blasting is expected to be complete by the end of 2012, followed by the fitting out of the tunnels. The extension is currently expected to open for service at the end of 2015.
History
The
Länsimetro was first proposed already when the Helsinki Metro system was first being designed in the 1950s. After the two forks of the Metro line eastwards from Helsinki had been completed, the
Länsimetro continued to be proposed. Until the early 2000s, Espoo continued to reject such a proposal.
Espoo is the second most populous city in Finland, currently served by roads, bus transport and local train. Espoo is connected to Helsinki by the
Rantarata , is a railway running between Helsinki Central railway station and Turku railway stations in Finland. Its first segment, linking Turku to Karis, was commissioned in 1895, and work began the following year. The Turku–Karis track was opened for temporary traffic on 1 April 1899 and for permanent...
coastal railway, and by two motorways:
Finnish national road 1The Finnish national road 1 is the main route between the major cities of Helsinki and Turku in southern Finland. It runs from Munkkiniemi in Helsinki to the VI District of Turku, and is part of the European route E18...
(
{{lang|fi|Turun moottoritie}}) in the north and the Western highway (
{{lang|fi|Länsiväyläis a motorway in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, mainly at the Helsinki conurbation. It is part of the Finnish national road 51. The road begins in Ruoholahti in western Helsinki and continues west through the island of Lauttasaari and then across the city border to Espoo. The Länsiväylä road...
}}) in south. As the primary passageway between southern Espoo and central Helsinki, the
Länsiväyläis a motorway in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, mainly at the Helsinki conurbation. It is part of the Finnish national road 51. The road begins in Ruoholahti in western Helsinki and continues west through the island of Lauttasaari and then across the city border to Espoo. The Länsiväylä road...
has been repeatedly enlarged to cope with congestion, but was still seeing chronic traffic jams at certain lines of the day. Widening the
Länsiväylä had not solved the traffic jams, instead moving them closer to the centre of Helsinki.
Since the 1990s, the Finnish state and the city of Helsinki have been ready to finance their portions of the project and commence construction, but Espoo for a long time opposed the project, mainly because of financing: the state had only agreed to pay 30% of the costs and Espoo had been wanting the state to contribute at least 70%.
Helsinki made an official suggestion to Espoo to construct the
Länsimetro in 1997. A year later, on 8 December 1998 the city council of Espoo had decided to only support extending the metro system to Tapiola, leaving off the planned continuation to Matinkylä and even Kivenlahti. On 16 February 1999, Espoo changed its statement and showed support for the plans to extend the metro to Matinkylä (with a vote in favour of 48 to 18).
The
Länsimetro issue was reawakened again in 2002 when a new plan for public traffic in the capital area by
Helsinki Metropolitan Area CouncilThe Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council was a co-operation agency operating in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, now replaced by HSL and HSY. The organisation had a few responsibilities, most notably regional public transport and waste management. It was subordinated to the city councils of the four...
(YTV) was being made. YTV prioritised the
Länsimetro over extension of a light rail line in to Espoo, a view that differed from that taken by Espoo city council. A compromise solution to investigate a "southern Espoo railway connection" (allowing for an express tram) was added, and both this railway connection and a light rail line were scheduled for 2010 to 2020.
According to a survey requested by
Helsingin SanomatHelsingin Sanomat is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. In 2008, its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays and 468,505 on Sundays...
in late 2005, 77% of Espoo residents and 90% of Helsinki residents were in favour of the Western Metro extension.
On 25 September 2006, the Espoo city council made an official decision about whether to adopt the
Länsimetro. The result was 45 votes to 19 in favour of the metro..
After Espoo city council had passed the decision allowing tax-generated income to be put towards the extension project—the worry was that such a large expense could conceivably bankrupt Espoo. In response, critics of the decision proceeded to take the municipality of Espoo to the highest administrative court on a charge of "neglect in the decision-making"; since administrative courts cannot rule on the substance of the decision, only the formal procedure was questioned.
Helsinki City Council ratified the plan for the extension on 11 November 2009, leading to construction work starting on 24 November 2009. Judicial complaints and appeals postponed the start for a year or so, but all were rejected by the
Supreme Administrative CourtThe Supreme Administrative Court of Finland is the highest court in the Finnish administrative court system, parallel to the Supreme Court of Finland. Its jurisdiction covers the legality of the decisions of government officials, and its decisions are final...
. The work started in January 2010 with the extension of the tunnels at the
Ruoholahti metro stationRuoholahti metro station is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Ruoholahti in Helsinki's southwestern city centre. Ruoholahti is the westernmost metro station in Helsinki, and will continue to be until the extension to Espoo, known as Länsimetro under construction is...
, and first
rock blastingRock blasting is the controlled use of explosives to excavate, break down or remove rock. It is practised most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam or road construction...
in Espoo was done in August 2010. As of August 2011, 92% of the contracts for tunneling and station building are signed. Tunnelling of the rail tunnel is expected to be finished in 2013, and construction of the first stations will begin in 2012. The metro will open for traffic in 2015.
Controversy and alternatives
In 2002, a joint study by the City of Helsinki, the City of Espoo and the Ministry of Transport and Communications compared the impact of the metro extension with building a
bus rapid transitBus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
system. The running costs of the two were estimated to be roughly equivalent. The metro would reduce emissions in Helsinki, but feeder buses would increase them in Espoo. The metro would make travel from parts of Espoo near the new stations to Helsinki faster and more convenient, but would increase the travel time from outlying areas.
A second study by the same parties, published in 2004, investigated the alternative option of a
light railLight rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
line. Supporters of the light rail line claimed{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}} it would be cheaper, faster to implement, and more environment-friendly than a traditional metro line. The primary disadvantage of the metro was seen to be{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}} having to build denser housing along the line to make it more profitable. Espoo is a relatively loosely built city with a lot of detached houses leading to a reputation as an
upper middle classThe upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term "lower middle class", which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum, and to the broader term "middle...
city. There have been fears{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}} that the building of the {{lang|fi|
Länsimetro}} would create tighter residential centres around each new metro station, and the Espoo "image" might suffer.
An advantage of the metro line was the existing metro network, and coupling the light rail line to the metro network would have caused all passengers travelling from
east HelsinkiEast Helsinki is an area in Helsinki, Finland, usually thought to comprise the city's eastern and south-eastern major districts , including the districts of Vartiokylä, Myllypuro, Mellunkylä, Vuosaari, Herttoniemi, Laajasalo and Kulosaari...
to Espoo to switch train systems. The metro option would allow for continuous trips from all stations in Espoo to all Helsinki stations from Ruoholahti to
KalasatamaKalasatama or Fiskhamnen is a station on the Helsinki Metro, in the capital city of Finland. The station was opened on 1 January 2007, and it serves the eastern part of the central Helsinki district of Sörnäinen...
and beyond.
Opponents of the light rail line claimed it to be an additional form of rail transport to the already diversely composed rail transport network in the capital area. Supporters claimed that the light rail line could be easily integrated to the existing
Helsinki tramThe Helsinki tram network forms part of the Helsinki public transport system organised by Helsinki Regional Transport Authority and operated by Helsinki City Transport in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki. The trams are the main means of transport in the city centre. 56.6 million trips were made...
network, with the work required being cheaper than that of a metro line.
In 2006, an informal private-sector shadow plan for a light rail alternative called TramWest was released. According to critics, the plan underestimated costs and the line was partly placed in areas where it would have been impossible to implement. TramWest also included many
level crossingA level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
s, which, if done badly, would slow down public transport. The plan would also have caused the parks designed into the
KiasmaKiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name kiasma, Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. The museum exhibits the contemporary art collection of the Finnish National Gallery founded in 1990...
and Helsinki music house areas to be cut through with a light rail line. The plan would have caused all lines to end at the Elielinaukio square next to the central railway station without integrating to any existing or future railway line. A revised version of the plan in 2008, claiming to address most of these concerns, was released in early 2008. The new plan proposes connecting Espoo to both the
Länsiväylä and city centre areas, but with the eastern extremity relocated from Elielinaukio square to either
ViikkiViikki is a neighbourhood of about 5,500 inhabitants in Helsinki, Finland. It is located at the bottom of Vanhankaupunginlahti bay, some 7–10 km from the city centre....
or
LaajasaloLaajasalo is a group of islands that forms a neighbourhood in southern Helsinki, the capital of Finland. As of 2005, it had a population of 16,486....
.
Cost
Preliminary plans, made in 2000 and 2001, cited the cost of the metro extension to Matinkylä to be about €400 million. When the Espoo city council decided on construction of the metro in 2004, the estimated price was €452 million. In September 2007, the estimated price of the {{lang|fi|
Länsimetro}} was at least €530 million.. In December 2007, {{lang|fi|Olavi Louko}} estimated that the price will rise to at least €600 million. According to Louko, the price of the excavation work has risen a third more than that of other ground construction work—with the factors for the increase including simultaneous excavation work, construction of the {{lang|fi|
Kehärata}} in 2009 and security requirements.
{{As of|2008}} the estimated cost had risen to over €800 million.
Current project
The cities of Espoo and Helsinki jointly founded a company called {{lang|fi|Länsimetro Oy}} (Western Metro Limited) to implement the metro extension from the present
RuoholahtiRuoholahti is a quarter in Helsinki, part of the Länsisatama neighbourhood and Kampinmalmi district. The name means Grass Bay and is pronounced...
to Matinkylä{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}. The CEO of the joint company is Matti Kokkinen.
Conditions
Espoo's criterion for acceptance was that planning for the second stage of the line should also be started. The first stage of the {{lang|fi|
Länsimetro}} is expected to be completed in 2013. The Espoo city council has set a number of requirements for the project:
- The Finnish state must commit to financing the {{lang|fi|Länsimetro}} extension all the way to {{lang|fi|Kivenlahti}} ({{lang|sv|Stensvik}}).
- The existing heavy railway line between Leppävaara
Leppävaara or Alberga is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. A major traffic hub in the Greater Helsinki region, the Rantarata rail line and Kehä I, the busiest road in Finland, cross in Leppävaara. The Sello Shopping Centre is also located there...
and Espoo CentreEspoon keskus is the central district of Espoo, the second biggest city of Finland and the administrative centre with the city hall of Espoo. The areas of Kiltakallio, Kirkkojärvi, Saarniraivio, Suna, Suvela and Tuomarila belong to Espoon keskus...
should be widened from two tracks to three, in conjunction with the Länsimetro project.
- The orbital "Joker" bus line ({{lang-fi|Jokeri-linja}}, {{lang-sv|Jokerlinjen}}) should be converted to a light rail line/tram, as soon as possible.
- The orbital Kehä I
Ring I is the busiest of all highways in Finland, carrying up to 113,000 vehicles per day. It is the innermost of the three beltways in the Greater Helsinki region, numbered as regional route 101 and runs from the eastern-most part of Espoo to Itäkeskus in eastern Helsinki. The total length is ,...
(Ring I) ring road should be improved.
- The orbital Kehä II
Ring II in the region of Espoo is one of the major highways in Finland, . The road runs north-south, connecting Turuntie in the north, to Länsiväylä in the south...
(Ring II) ring road should be continued around into Helsinki, via Vihdintie (Vichtisvägen), to Hämeenlinnanväylä (Tavastehusleden).
Projected route
A metro line extension was accepted as a basis for further planning in 2000. The locations of the stations was confirmed by the cities of Espoo and Helsinki in June 2007. The extension will be completely underground with the following stations (tentative names):
{{bs-header|Ruoholahti–Matinkylä}}
{{BS|utSTR|}>
}
{{BS|utKBHFxe|
RuoholahtiRuoholahti metro station is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Ruoholahti in Helsinki's southwestern city centre. Ruoholahti is the westernmost metro station in Helsinki, and will continue to be until the extension to Espoo, known as Länsimetro under construction is...
(Gräsviken)}}
{{BS|uextBHF|Lauttasaari (Drumsö)}}
{{BS|uextBHF|Koivusaari (Björkholmen)}}
{{BS|uextBHF|Keilaniemi (Kägeludden)}}
{{BS|uextBHF|Otaniemi (Otnäs)}}
{{BS|uextBHF|Tapiola (Hagalund)}}
{{BS|uextBHF|Urheilupuisto (Idrottsparken)}}
{{BS|uextBHF|Niittykumpu (Ängskulla)}}
{{BS|uextKBHFe|Matinkylä (Mattby)}}
|}
Ruoholahti—Matinkylä section:
- Ruoholahti
Ruoholahti metro station is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Ruoholahti in Helsinki's southwestern city centre. Ruoholahti is the westernmost metro station in Helsinki, and will continue to be until the extension to Espoo, known as Länsimetro under construction is...
(Gräsviken) (existing station)
- Lauttasaari
Lauttasaari is an island and neighbourhood of Western Helsinki , about 3 kilometres west of the city centre....
(Drumsö)
- Koivusaari
Koivusaari is an island and a district of Helsinki, Finland.Koivusaari is the westernmost district of the entire southern part of Helsinki. Directly west from it is a bridge across the Keilalahti bay, crossing the municipality border to Espoo, after which comes Keilaniemi, the easternmost district...
(Björkholmen) (last station in Helsinki)
- Keilaniemi
Keilaniemi is a district in the south-eastern part of Espoo, Finland. Keilaniemi is bordered by the university district of Otaniemi to the north, the commercial/residential district of Tapiola to the west, the Keilalahti bay separating Espoo and Helsinki to the east, and the Gulf of Finland to the...
(Kägeludden) (first station in Espoo)
- Otaniemi
Otaniemi , or Otnäs , is a district of Espoo, Finland. It is located near the border of Helsinki, the capital of Finland....
(Otnäs) (Aalto University School of Science and Technology)
- Tapiola
Tapiola or Hagalund is a district of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo...
(Hagalund)
- Urheilupuisto (Idrottsparken)
- Niittykumpu
Niittykumpu or Ängskulla is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland....
(Ängskulla) (provision made for building later)
- Matinkylä
Matinkylä or Mattby is one of the major urban areas of Espoo, a city on the southern coast of Finland. Matinkylä is understood as the area between the Helsinki-Hanko highway and the coast of the Gulf of Finland, between the areas of Haukilahti and Iivisniemi.About 30 000 people live in the...
(Mattby)
- Finnoo (first station of possible second phase)
- Kaitaa
Kaitaa or Kaitans is a district of southern Espoo, Finland, located south of the Länsiväylä highway, with a population of 6000.Kaitaa mostly consists of detached houses, and contains the Hannusjärvi recreational area...
(Kaitans)/Iivisniemi (Ivisnäs)
- Soukka
Soukka or Sökö is district number 33 of Espoo, Finland, located in southwestern Espoo in the main district of Suur-Espoonlahti.-Early history:...
(Sökö)
- Espoonlahti
Espoonlahti or Esboviken is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland.Areas known as Laurinlahti, Ylä-Kivenlahti and Ala-Kivenlahti are also part of the Espoonlahti district. Greater Espoonlahti also includes Kaitaa, Latokaski, Nöykkiö, Saunalahti, Soukka, Iivisniemi and Suvisaaristo.-See also:*...
(Esboviken)
- Kivenlahti (Stensvik)
Of the stations listed above, the first three would be in Helsinki, the stations after that in Espoo. A station at Niittykumpu (Ängskulla) will not be built initially, because the population of the area is considered too low. However, the space for a future station will be excavated during the construction of the metro line.
External links
{{Public transport in Helsinki}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lansimetro}}