Planned tram projects in Helsinki

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]

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.^[4]^[5]

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.^[6] As of August 2023^[update], construction was due to start in 2026.^[7]

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,^[8] 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),^[9] 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.^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14] As of December 2017, lines 7, 8 and 9 are routed on Jätkäsaari according to the plan approved in 2015 (see Reorganisation^{[broken anchor]}). 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.^[12]^[15]

Line reorganisation

The Helsinki Regional Transport Authority is planning to re-organise the current lines as new light rail lines are being built.^[16]

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:^[17]

From	To	Line No.	Via
Eira	Käpylä	1	Bulevardi, Töölö, Helsinginkatu, Sörnäinen (M), Vallila
Olympia Terminal^a	Itä-Pasila	2	Kauppatori, Aleksanterinkatu, Töölö, Eläintarha, Pasila station
Olympia Terminal^a	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:^[17]^[18]

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
Kaivopuisto^b	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
Kaivopuisto^b	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 [fi] (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 [fi], Pitäjänmäki, Etelä-Haaga, Pohjois-Haaga, Maunula, Oulunkylä, Viikki, Roihupelto
Mellunmäki (M)	Helsinki Airport	570	6	Länsimäki, Vaarala [fi], Hakunila, Kuninkaala [fi], 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.^[19]^[20] If built, the light rail link could be extended as far east as Porvoo.^[20] As proposed in 2024, the new system would provide a transfer to Metro as well as current and planned light rail lines: Helsinki light rail line 15 in Itäkeskus, Vantaa light rail in Bredbacka, and the light-rail conversion of the bus route 560 ("Jokeri 2") in Fallbacka.^[21]

References

^ Salomaa, Marja (2021-05-29). "Helsingin ratikkavallankumous nostaa asuntojen hintoja lukuisilla alueilla, asuntosijoittaja vinkkaa sijoituskohteesta – "Hymyilyttää"". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-02.
^ "Helsingin kaupunginvaltuusto päätti: Kruunuvuorenrantaan rakennetaan Suomen pisin siltayhteys" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
^ "Kruunusillat, hankesuunnitelma" (PDF) (in Finnish). City of Helsinki. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-11. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
^ Salomaa, Marja (2023-05-22). "Vantaasta tulee Suomen neljäs ratikkakaupunki". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-01.
^ "Vantaa tram plan". Railway Gazette International. Vol. 179, no. 7. 2023-07-01. p. 11. ISSN 0373-5346.
^ Bäckgren, Nora (2021-01-21). "Länsi-Helsingin raitioteiden suuri uudistus etenee – Valtuutetut väittelivät pitkään kustannusten paisumisesta". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-30.
^ Kantola, Anna (2023-08-11). "Helsinkiin sovitellaan jälleen uutta pikaratikkaa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-30.
^ Antero Alku
^ https://www.hel.fi/uutiset/fi/helsinki/lansisatama-uusi-terminaali ^{[dead link‍]}
^ Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos
^ Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos
^ ^a ^b Joukkoliikennelautakunta
^ Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta
^ Mirva Haltia-Holmberg
^ Mirva Haltia-Holmberg
^ "Raitiovaunulinjojen mylläyksessä esillä kaksi vaihtoehtoa – Munkkiniemi saattaa säilyttää suoran yhteyden Stockmannille". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2021-09-10. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
^ ^a ^b "Linjastoluonnos". HSL.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-04-26.
^ "Linjastoluonnos". Remix. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
^ Marketta Karjalainen
^ ^a ^b YLE
^ "Itäisen bulevardikaupungin itäosan suunnitteluperiaatteet 26.3.2024" (PDF). City of Helsinki. 2024-03-26. Retrieved 2024-03-27.

Bibliography

Helsinki City Transport

"Jätkäsaaren joukkoliikennevaihtoehdot" (in Finnish). 2008-06-23. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
"Linjastovaihtoehdot 0, 1, 2 ja 3" (PDF) (in Finnish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2008-06-24.

Miscellaneous

Alku, Antero (2008-08-13). "Helsingin kantakaupungin raitioteiden laajennukset". www.kaupunkiliikenne.net (in Finnish). Retrieved 2008-09-25.
Haltia-Holmberg, Mirva (2008-08-21). "Enimmäkseen upeita lautakunnan kokouskuulumisia 21.8.2008". Haltian vaaliyö (in Finnish). Retrieved 2008-08-21.
Haltia-Holmberg, Mirva (11 December 2008). "Kokouskuulumiset: joukkoliikennelautakunta 11.12.2208". Haltian vaaliyö (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 December 2008.
"Jätkäsaaren joukkoliikenteen järjestäminen" (in Finnish). Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta. 2007-06-08. Archived from the original on 2007-09-05. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
"Jätkäsaaren joukkoliikenne 2015/2025" (PDF) (in Finnish). Joukkoliikennelautakunta. 11 December 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
Karjalainen, Marketta (2009-02-20). "Helsingin liitosalue saattaa jäädä kokonaan ilman metroa". Vantaan Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
"Pikaraitiotietä kaavaillaan Porvooseen asti" (in Finnish). YLE. 2009-06-25. Archived from the original on 2010-08-18. Retrieved 2009-07-02.

External links

Major rail transport projects at the Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd website

[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.

[HSKruunu-2] "Helsingin kaupunginvaltuusto päätti: Kruunuvuorenrantaan rakennetaan Suomen pisin siltayhteys" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 2016-08-31.

[Kruunuhanke-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 (2023-05-22). "Vantaasta tulee Suomen neljäs ratikkakaupunki". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-01.

[5] "Vantaa tram plan". Railway Gazette International. Vol. 179, no. 7. 2023-07-01. p. 11. ISSN 0373-5346.

[6] Bäckgren, Nora (2021-01-21). "Länsi-Helsingin raitioteiden suuri uudistus etenee – Valtuutetut väittelivät pitkään kustannusten paisumisesta". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-30.

[7] Kantola, Anna (2023-08-11). "Helsinkiin sovitellaan jälleen uutta pikaratikkaa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-08-30.

[misc18-8] Antero Alku

[9] ttps://www.hel.fi/uutiset/fi/helsinki/lansisatama-uusi-terminaali ^{[dead link‍]}

[misc12-10] Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos

[misc11-11] Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos

[JLK_2008-12-11-12] Joukkoliikennelautakunta

[Kslk_2007-1011-13] Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta

[Haltia-Holmberg_2008-08-21-14] Mirva Haltia-Holmberg

[Haltia-Holmberg_2008-12-11-15] Mirva Haltia-Holmberg

[16] "Raitiovaunulinjojen mylläyksessä esillä kaksi vaihtoehtoa – Munkkiniemi saattaa säilyttää suoran yhteyden Stockmannille". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2021-09-10. Retrieved 2023-08-02.

[Linjastoluonnos-17] "Linjastoluonnos". HSL.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-04-26.

[18] "Linjastoluonnos". Remix. Retrieved 2022-04-26.

[Karjalainen-19] Marketta Karjalainen

[YLE_2009-06-25-20] YLE

[21] "Itäisen bulevardikaupungin itäosan suunnitteluperiaatteet 26.3.2024" (PDF). City of Helsinki. 2024-03-26. Retrieved 2024-03-27.

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