Helsinki commuter rail
Encyclopedia
Regional rail
Commuter rail, also called suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates between a city center, and the middle to outer suburbs beyond 15km and commuter towns or other locations that draw large numbers of commuters—people who travel on a daily basis...
system serving Greater Helsinki
Greater Helsinki
Greater Helsinki and the smaller Helsinki Metropolitan Area or Capital Region refer to two regions of different size surrounding Helsinki, the capital of Finland...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , 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...
. The network is operated by VR
VR Group
VR or VR Group is a state-owned railway company in Finland. Formerly known as Suomen Valtion Rautatiet until 1922 and Valtionrautatiet / Statsjärnvägarna until 1995...
, the Finnish national railway company. Together with the Helsinki Metro
Helsinki Metro
The 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...
and trams
Helsinki tram
The 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...
, the network forms the heart of Helsinki's public transportation infrastructure
Public transport in Helsinki
Public transport in Helsinki consists of bus, tram, metro, train, and ferry services. The system is managed by Helsinki Region Transport ....
.
Trains run above ground in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Within the municipalities of Espoo
Espoo
Espoo 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....
, Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki 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...
, Kauniainen
Kauniainen
Kauniainen is a small town and a municipality of inhabitants in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. It is surrounded by the city of Espoo, in Greater Helsinki...
, Kerava
Kerava
Kerava is a town and municipality in Finland.It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The town has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is...
, Kirkkonummi
Kirkkonummi
Kirkkonummi is a municipality of inhabitants in southern Finland. The literal meaning of the words "Kirkkonummi" and "Kyrkslätt" in English is "church moor"....
, and Vantaa
Vantaa
Vantaa is a city and municipality in Finland. Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen make up the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.Vantaa, with its population of , is the fourth most populated city of Finland. The biggest airport in Finland, the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, is located there...
, the system uses tickets that are interchangeable with the bus, metro and tram networks managed by the Helsinki Region Transport, which was formed in 2010 by merging transport section of Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council
Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council
The 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...
and Helsinki City Transport
Helsinki City Transport
Helsinki City Transport or HKL is the official city-owned public transport company in Helsinki, Finland. It operates the Helsinki metro, Helsinki tram and ferry boat traffic...
. Traveling beyond Kerava and Kirkkonummi uses VR commuter tickets, which are sold in zones from A (Helsinki) to H (Lahti).
The network is composed of 15 separate services, pictured in the network map below. They operate on all four branches of the railway lines that begin at the Helsinki main railway station, which is where they all terminate. The system has a total of 54 stations, 14 of which are within the city of Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki 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...
. There are about 850 departures on weekdays.
History
Local train services have existed since the 1880s in the Helsinki region. At first local train service was offered on the Main Line up to Rekola railway stationRekola railway station
Rekola or Räckhals is located in the district of Rekola in the city of Vantaa, Finland. It is located approximately from Helsinki Central railway station.-Connections:* K trains * N trains...
.
The Coastal Line was finished in 1903. This line was built mostly with commuter traffic in mind, so it immediately started creating housing developments near stations.
During the steam era local traffic was handled with steam locomotives like Pr1 and wooden-bodied carriages with extra wide doors for rapid loading of passengers. Amount of trips increased vastly after Finland gained independence in 1917, with 4 million trips in 1920 and 9 million in 1924. Depression in 1930s hit the commuter travelling and there was only 3 million trips at lowest. By 1939 amount of trips had risen to 4 million.
During the short diesel era from the end of the 1950s to the beginning of the 1970s, commuter services used DMU's of classes Dm7
VR Class Dm7
The Dm6 and Dm7 were diesel multiple units built by Valmet in the 1950s and 1960s for Valtionrautatiet. They are known by their nickname lättähattu .- History :...
, Dm8 and Dm9.
The tracks were not upgraded significantly during steam or diesel eras. Both Main Line and beginning of Coastal Line up to Kirkkonummi had only dual tracks to accommodate long-distance, freight and commuter trains. The Coastal Line is still only single track between Kirkkonummi and Turku.
Current operation started forming in 1969 when first stretch was electrified. Route designation letters were introduced on May 28, 1972. In the same year then existing commuter routes were completely electrified and a third track was added between Helsinki and Tikkurila. The third track was extended to Kerava in 1981.
The railway branch from Huopalahti to Martinlaakso, opened in 1975 and later extended to Vantaankoski, was built exclusively for commuter trains, being first such line in Finland.
Currently on the Helsinki–Leppävaara and Helsinki–Kerava track sections, the commuter services use rails parallel to, but separate from those used by long-distance trains, following the S-Bahn
S-Bahn
S-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark...
principle. The fourth track, which enabled separate "city track traffic", was ready up to Tikkurila in 1996 and to Kerava in 2004. On the Coastal Line the section between Pasila
Pasila railway station
Pasila railway station is a railway station in Helsinki, Finland, approximately north of Helsinki Central railway station. It is the second busiest railway station in Finland, after Helsinki Central, and takes up a large part of the district of Pasila...
and Leppävaara
Leppävaara railway station
Leppävaara railway station is a station on the VR commuter rail network located in Leppävaara, a district of the city of Espoo in Finland. It is located about to the northwest/west of Helsinki Central railway station.-History:...
was upgraded directly from dual track to four tracks in 2001.
The railway branch from Kerava to Lahti
Lahti
Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...
, opened in 2006, was built as a shortcut for long-distance services, and also for the use of the new commuter service Z.
Future extensions
A new Ring Rail LineKehärata
The Ring Rail Line is a railway route under construction in the area of the city of Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland. It will connect Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the adjacent Aviapolis business and retail district to the Helsinki commuter rail network...
is under construction and slated for completion in August 2014. It will extend the Vantaankoski branch via Aviapolis
Aviapolis
Aviapolis is a business, retail, entertainment and housing marketing brand area in Central Vantaa, Finland covering 42 square kilometers including the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.-Business:...
and Helsinki-Vantaa airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Helsinki Airport or Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is the main international airport of the Helsinki metropolitan region and the whole of Finland. It is located in Vantaa, Finland, about west of Tikkurila, the centre of Vantaa, and north of Helsinki city centre...
to the Main Line just north of Tikkurila station. The extension is drafted to introduce five new stations with reservations for three more. Unlike other tracks, a section of Ring Line beneath the airport will run in tunnel with tunnel stations for the airport and Aviapolis. Planning and construction of Ring Line has been realized so that it will be possible to construct a branch line to Klaukkala
Klaukkala
Klaukkala is a village in the southern part of the Nurmijärvi municipality of Finland, near the Valkjärvi lake.Klaukkala is the largest of the villages in Nurmijärvi and is often mistakenly thought of as a separate city...
in the future.
There are existing plans to extend four track line to Espoo
Espoo railway station
Espoo railway station is a railway station located in the district of Espoon keskus in the city of Espoo, Finland. It is located between the stations of Tuomarila and Kauklahti, about from the Helsinki Central railway station....
from Leppävaara.
A major increase in capacity of Helsinki Central Station has been planned as no new services can be introduced since rail capacity at Helsinki station is fully used at peak hours. The plan is called "PISARA" (a drop). The PISARA line would feature underground, drop-shaped railway starting just south of Pasila railway station
Pasila railway station
Pasila railway station is a railway station in Helsinki, Finland, approximately north of Helsinki Central railway station. It is the second busiest railway station in Finland, after Helsinki Central, and takes up a large part of the district of Pasila...
and coming back from tunnel at almost same location after a round under Helsinki city centre. There would be three underground stations at Hakaniemi
Hakaniemi
Hakaniemi is an unofficial district of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. It is considered a part of the Helsinki city center. Historically, it was often associated with the working class and worker's associations. However, the cost of living has risen considerably in recent years and is now on par...
, Central Railway Station and Opera House
Finnish National Opera
The Finnish National Opera in Helsinki is the leading opera company in Finland. Its home base is the Opera House on Töölönlahti bay in Töölö which opened in 1993, and is state-owned through Senate Properties...
. The extension is very expensive and not likely to be completed before 2020.
Rantarata (The Coastal/Turku Line)
Train Y runs from Helsinki to KarisKaris
Karis is a former Finnish town and Finnish municipality in Finland. On January 1, 2009, it was consolidated with Ekenäs and Pohja that formed the new town of Raseborg....
. There are 3–7 runs for the train every day. The trains stop at Pasila, Leppävaara and Masala railway stations and at every station between Kirkkonummi and Karis.
When Finland's first electric part of track was finished (from Helsinki to Kirkkonummi), the first service was Y. In 1987 the former Y-train service ended and was replaced by S- and U-trains in 1988. In 2002 the route designation Y was introduced again, as after Leppävaara city tracks were finished, there was a possibility to add a fast commuter train connection to Karis. Before this a few of the S- and U-trains continued from Kirkkonummi to Karis.
Train S runs from Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki 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...
to Kirkkonummi
Kirkkonummi
Kirkkonummi is a municipality of inhabitants in southern Finland. The literal meaning of the words "Kirkkonummi" and "Kyrkslätt" in English is "church moor"....
. It runs one train in an hour to both directions. Of the two daytime trains running between Helsinki and Kirkkonummi the S-trains are faster.
S-trains stop between Helsinki and Leppävaara at Pasila and Huopalahti. Between Leppävaara and Kauklahti it stops on every station. Between Kauklahti and Kirkkonummi it stops only at Masala.
From May 28, 1972 to May 25, 1974 the S-trains were running between Helsinki and Kauniainen
Kauniainen
Kauniainen is a small town and a municipality of inhabitants in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. It is surrounded by the city of Espoo, in Greater Helsinki...
. The route was continued to Kirkkonummi on September 27, 1987.
Train U runs from Helsinki to Kirkkonummi. It runs once in an hour. It stops between Helsinki and Leppävaara only at Pasila and Huopalahti. Between Leppävaara and Kirkkonummi it stops on every station.
Train L runs from Helsinki to Kirkkonummi. It's a night train, and it stops on every station. The service runs only at nights and on weekend mornings. There is one departure from Karis on Sunday mornings. It has more stops than any other train in this system as it calls on every station between Karis and Helsinki. Before inauguration of Leppävaara city tracks and A-train in 2002, L-train was running also on daytime.
Train E runs from Helsinki to Kauklahti
Kauklahti
Kauklahti or Köklax is a district of Espoo, in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland. It is one of the oldest population centers in the city: it was already inhabited 4000 years BCE. Kauklahti is growing fast and in 2006 hosted The Finnish Housing Fair.- External links :*...
. It stops between Helsinki and Leppävaara only at Pasila and Huopalahti and between Leppävaara and Kauklahti at every station. It runs once in half an hour, except on Sundays, when there is no service. The route was continued in August 2007 to Kauklahti from former terminus at Espoo station. If city tracks extension from Leppävaara to Espoo station is constructed, E-train will form backbone of commuter traffic on the Coastal Line, calling at every station between Helsinki and Kauklahti.
Train A runs from Helsinki to Leppävaara
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...
. It stops at every station. It runs at 10-minute intervals during rush hours, otherwise at 20-minute intervals on working days and at 30-min intervals on weekends. The route designation A was originally used from May 28, 1972 to May 25, 1974 for Kirkkonummi service, and it was re-introduced in June 2002.
Vantaankoski Line
Train M runs from Helsinki to Vantaankoski. It runs once in 10–30 minutes and stops at every station. The service has run continuously since the track to Martinlaakso was completed in 1975. In 1991 the line was continued one stop further to Vantaankoski. In 2014 extension from Vantaankoski via Helsinki-Vantaa AirportHelsinki-Vantaa Airport
Helsinki Airport or Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is the main international airport of the Helsinki metropolitan region and the whole of Finland. It is located in Vantaa, Finland, about west of Tikkurila, the centre of Vantaa, and north of Helsinki city centre...
to the Main Line will be finished, completing a circular route Helsinki-Vantaankoski-Airport-Tikkurila-Helsinki (Kehärata
Kehärata
The Ring Rail Line is a railway route under construction in the area of the city of Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland. It will connect Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the adjacent Aviapolis business and retail district to the Helsinki commuter rail network...
).
The letter M stands for Martinlaakso. When the track was continued from Martinlaakso to Vantaankoski in 1991, the route designation stayed as M. Changing the designation has been discussed from time to time, because some believe M can be confused with the logo for the metro. It is likely that route designation changes when Ring Line is completed, as it will merge routes I and M.
The Main/Riihimäki Line
Train I runs from Helsinki to Tikkurila. It runs at 20-minute intervals, and at 10-minute intervals during rush hours, stopping at every station. The I service does not run on Sundays or evenings. The service was started in the mid-1990s as a rush-hour extra and its frequency was increased when the P-train was discontinued. I-train in its current form will be discontinued when Ring Line is completed in 2014.Train K runs from Helsinki to Kerava
Kerava
Kerava is a town and municipality in Finland.It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The town has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is...
. It runs once in every 10–20 minutes. It stops between Helsinki and Tikkurila at Pasila, Oulunkylä, Malmi and Puistola. Between Tikkurila and Kerava it stops at every station. An extension of the line to Nikkilä in Sipoo has been planned using a part of existing branch to Kilpilahti oil refinery. In the 1970s and early 1980s K-trains did not stop at Puistola, Malmi and Oulunkylä. Oulunkylä was added only after completion of city tracks to Kerava in 2004.
Train N runs from Helsinki to Kerava. It stops at every station. The service runs early in the morning, late in the evening and on Sundays. It runs at a 20-30 minute interval on weekdays and on a 15 minute interval on Sundays. On other times this route is serviced by trains I, K and T.
Train G runs from Helsinki to Saunakallio. It runs six times a day in both directions and it's the only train with letter designation on the Helsinki-Riihimäki route that doesn't stop at Tikkurila. The service was started on June 4, 2007. It stops at Helsinki, Pasila, Kyrölä, Järvenpää and Saunakallio.
Train T runs at night once in an hour from Helsinki to Riihimäki. There is a several hours gap in late night with no service. It stops at every station.
Train H runs from Helsinki to Riihimäki
Riihimäki
Riihimäki is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. It is somewhat of a railway junction, since the railway tracks going from different parts of the nation to Helsinki merge there. Sako, Ltd...
. It runs once in an hour. There is demand for more frequent H-train service, but this cannot be offered before a third track from Kerava to Riihimäki is constructed. The service stops between Helsinki and Kerava at Pasila and Tikkurila and between Kerava and Riihimäki at every station. Before 1996 H-train had stops at Monni, Palopuro, Takoja, Ristinummi and Kytömaa. These were abandoned and structures completely dismantled in 1996.
Train R runs from Helsinki to Riihimäki. It runs once in an hour. All R-trains have low floors and timetable requires trains to be capable of 160 km/h speed. The trains stop between Helsinki and Riihimäki at Pasila, Tikkurila, Kerava, Järvenpää, Jokela and Hyvinkää. Some of the R-trains continue to Tampere or Kouvola. Some R-train departures are run with electric locomotive and special commuter cars instead of EMU's.
The Lahti track
Train Z runs from Helsinki to Lahti. It runs once in an hour. All Z-trains have low floors and timetable requires trains to be capable of 160 km/h speed. The service stops between Helsinki and Lahti at Pasila, Tikkurila, Kerava, Haarajoki and Mäntsälä. During the rush hours, the Z service is often crowded between Helsinki and Kerava and therefore it is run with longer trains. One Z-train departures from Kouvola in the morning and returns there in the evening rush hour. It is run with electric locomotive and commuter cars. Also the last Z-train on the evening continues to Kouvola.Services without letter designations
There are few rush hour departures from Riihimäki in the morning and from Helsinki in the evening rush hour, which lack letter designation, since they don't conform to any of the letter routes stop schemes. They also have only 1 or 2 daily departures per route variant. All but one of these are between Helsinki and Riihimäki. The one goes to Lahti in the evening rush. There used to be one of this type of train on the Coastal Line at the turn of the 21st century, but it was discontinued as the number of passengers was low.Former services
Train P ran from Helsinki to Hiekkaharju, stopping at every station. The service was started in 1972 and stopped in August 2004. There have been plans restart the P service again on the future Ring Rail Line (KehärataKehärata
The Ring Rail Line is a railway route under construction in the area of the city of Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland. It will connect Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the adjacent Aviapolis business and retail district to the Helsinki commuter rail network...
) from Helsinki via Tikkurila, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and Huopalahti back to Helsinki.
Lengths of the lines
- Helsinki-Riihimäki 71 km (54 min)
- Helsinki-Lahti 104 km (60 min)
- Helsinki-Kerava 29 km (23 min)
- Helsinki-Tikkurila 16 km (14 min)
- Helsinki-Karis 87 km (1 h 7 min)
- Helsinki-Kirkkonummi 38 km (30 min)
- Helsinki-Kauklahti 24 km (29 min)
- Helsinki-Leppävaara 11 km (12 min)
- Helsinki-Vantaankoski 15 km (22 min)
Rolling stock
Electric multiple units:- Sm1VR Class Sm1The electric multiple unit Sm1 is the oldest type of commuter train equipment still in active use by the VR Group . Fifty Sm1 units were built between years 1968 and 1973 at Valmet airplane factory in Tampere. It was put into use on the first electrified Finnish railway line between Helsinki and...
, 50 units delivered in 1969-1973 (Valmet/Strömberg) - Sm2VR Class Sm2The Sm2 is a class of electric multiple units in use by the VR Group in commuter traffic in the Helsinki area. 50 Sm2 units were built between 1975 and 1981 by Valmet airplane factory in Tampere. The electric systems were built by Strömberg in Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki. The Sm2 units have undergone a...
, 50 units delivered in 1975-1981 (Valmet/Strömberg) - Sm4VR Class Sm4The Sm4 electric multiple unit is a low-floor train used by the VR Group in Helsinki commuter rail services. The initial order was for ten EMUs with the first unit entering service in 1999. Another 20 units were ordered in 2002 and the deliveries were completed in 2005...
, 30 units delivered in 1999-2005 (Fiat Ferroviaria/CAF/Alstom) - Sm5JKOY Class Sm5The Sm5 electric multiple unit is a low-floor train used on the Helsinki commuter rail network. Unlike other train types on the network, the Sm5 units are owned by Pääkaupunkiseudun Junakalusto Oy, a subsidiary of the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen and the VR Group...
, 2 units delivered in 2008-2009 (StadlerStadler RailStadler Rail AG , based in Bussnang, Switzerland, is a Swiss manufacturer of rail passenger cars.In 1942 Ernst Stadler founded the Stadler Engineering Office which later became Stadler Rail.- Factories :...
, model FLIRTStadler FLIRTStadler FLIRT is an electric multiple unit produced by Stadler Rail AG. The articulated trainset comes in units of two to six cars with two to six motorized axles. The maximum speed is 200 km/h...
). These trains are run by VR but owned by Pääkaupunkiseudun Junakalusto Oy. The first Sm5 unit started commercial operations in November 2009. Another 30 units have been ordered and the series will replace aging Sm1-units. - Sr1VR Class Sr1The Sr1 is a class of electric locomotives built for VR . These 25kV locomotives were built in the Soviet Union at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Factory between 1973 and 1985...
(NEVZ) or Sr2VR Class Sr2The Sr2 is a class of electric locomotives of the VR Group. They were built by SLM / ABB and later by Adtranz and finally Bombardier Transportation and assembled by Transtech Oy...
(SLMSwiss Locomotive and Machine WorksSwiss Locomotive and Machine Works were a railway equipment manufacturer based in Winterthur in Switzerland...
/ABB) locomotives and Eil/EilfVR Class EilThe VR class Eil and Eilf are passenger cars used mainly during rush hour in Helsinki commuter rail traffic. The cars were built between 1982 and 1987 by VR Pasilan konepaja. The seating capacity is of 105 for Eil-class and 89 for Eilf-class cars. Maximum speed is 140 km/h....
commuter traffic cars, 57 cars delivered in 1982-87 (so-called "red cars").
Commuter traffic was the last commercial traffic with wooden-bodied cars on Finnish railways. They were retired in the late 1980s when the Eil cars replaced them.