Helsinki light rail line 15 (, ) is a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

line connecting

Keilaniemi Keilaniemi (; ; ) is a district in the south-eastern part of Espoo, Finland. Geography Keilaniemi is bordered by the university district of Otaniemi to the north, the commercial/residential district of Tapiola to the west, the Keilalahti bay se ...

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

and

Itäkeskus Itäkeskus (, literal translation ''East center'') is a '' quarter'' in the neighbourhood of Vartiokylä (as of the 1980s) in Helsinki, Finland. The district's main attraction is the largest covered-in shopping mall in the Nordic countries, Itis ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Known during construction as Jokeri light rail (, ), construction was started in June 2019 and the line began operating in October 2023, about 10 months ahead of the original schedule. The line replaced the trunk bus line 550, the busiest

bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications o ...

on the

Helsinki Regional Transport Authority The Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (; ) is the inter-municipal authority that maintains the public transportation network of the nine municipalities of Greater Helsinki, Finland. HSL oversees the operation of all of Helsinki's public ...

public transport network, at the end of 2023.

History

Background

The "trunk bus line" 550, formerly branded ''Jokeri'' ("The Joker", after Joukkoliikenteen kehämäinen raideinvestointi – "A circular rail investment for public transportation"), has been converted to light rail. The city councils of

and Espoo approved the construction project in June 2016, after the Finnish government decided to participate in funding the construction. The rail line was preliminarily projected to open in 2021. The construction of the light rail line, without rolling stock or a depot, was projected to cost 274 million euros as of June 2016, with rolling stock and a depot projected to additionally cost up to 95 and 65 million euros, respectively. The 550 was originally conceived as a light rail line in 1990, but only realised as a bus line in 2003. The general plans to convert the congested bus line to light rail were first published in 2009, but the decision to begin construction was only taken in June 2016 after many delays. The municipality of Espoo has located the western terminus of the rail line at Keilaniemi instead of Tapiola. There are connections to the

Helsinki Metro The Helsinki Metro (, ) is a rapid transit system serving the Helsinki capital region, Finland. It is the world's most northern, the world's northernmost metro system. It was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of planni ...

Aalto University Aalto University (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economic ...

and

. The previous 550 bus line was a orbital route running roughly parallel to the innermost ring road around Helsinki (

Ring I Ring I (pronounced "ring one", , ) is the busiest road in Finland, carrying up to 113,000 vehicles per day. It is the innermost of the three beltways in the Helsinki capital region, numbered as regional route 101 and runs from the easternmo ...

). The 550 ran from

in the east to

Tapiola Tapiola (; ) is a district of the municipality of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo. It is located in the western part of Helsinki capital region. The name ''Tapiola'' is derived from ''Tapio (spi ...

in the west, connecting with the commuter rail network at

Oulunkylä Oulunkylä (, also known as ''Ogeli'') is a suburb and a neighbourhood of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is located north from the center of the city. It has been inhabited since the 13th century. Earlier an independent municipality, it ...

Huopalahti Huopalahti () was a municipality during the years 1920–1945 in Uusimaa, Finland. Areas of Munkkiniemi, Lauttasaari and parts of northern Pasila were parts of Huopalahti. The area was separated from former Helsinki parish in 1920. Haaga was ...

Pitäjänmäki Pitäjänmäki (, ) is a district located on the westernmost district of Helsinki, Finland, near the border with Espoo. There are many IT and machine manufacturing companies in the area, especially around the Valimo railway station. Such comp ...

and

Leppävaara Leppävaara () is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. The Rantarata rail line and the Ring Road I, the busiest road in Finland, cross in Leppävaara, thus making it a major traffic hub in the Greater Helsinki region. The Sello Shopping Cent ...

, and with the metro in Itäkeskus and Tapiola. Light rail line 15 is a significant development for the

Helsinki tram network Trams in Helsinki form part of the public transport system organised by Helsinki Regional Transport Authority and operated by Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd (, ) in Finland's capital city of Helsinki. The trams are the main means of transport ...

. The route is located entirely outside the current network, surrounding it; the length of the route constitutes a large proportion of the total network length, and the line is built to modern light rail standards (as opposed to the relatively old-fashioned street tram system). However, the new line is technically compatible with the existing network (, low platforms). Direct integration with the Helsinki Metro (broad gauge, high platforms, planned driverless operation) was briefly studied in 2003, but it was found to be highly impractical.

Construction

Construction on the line officially began in June 2019. Construction proceeded ahead of schedule, with test runs being completed between 2022 and June 2023. Regular service started in October 2023, ahead of the original 2024 target date. 5858 workers took part in the construction. File:Construction of Jokeri light rail in Maunula, Helsinki, Finland, 2022 September.jpg, Construction work in

Maunula Maunula ( Finnish), Månsas ( Swedish) is a northwestern neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Ru ...

in September 2022 File:Raide-Jokerin Patterimäen tunnelia rakennetaan.jpg, Western entrance of the Patterinmäki tunnel during construction work in May 2022

Opening

Cutting the ribbon for Helsinki light rail line 15

The first service of Jokeri light rail took place in Otaniemi, where the first service departed on 21 October 2023 to Itäkeskus. HSL (

) organized an opening event at Otaniemi, with guests like Finnish prime minister

Petteri Orpo Antti Petteri Orpo (; born 3 November 1969) is a Finland, Finnish politician currently serving as the prime minister of Finland since 2023 and as the leader of the National Coalition Party since 2016. He briefly served as speaker of the Parliame ...

, Finnish minister of Environment and climate change Kai Mykkänen and the deputy mayor of Helsinki.

Services

Services on tram line 15 began on 21 October 2023. The initial service consisted of a tram every 12 minutes (5tph). On 1 December 2023, the frequency was increased to 6tph. From 4 March 2024, the peak time frequency was increased further, to a tram every 8 minutes (7.5tph). From summer 2024, the all-day frequency will be increased to 8tph, with up to 10tph at peak times. The line is operated by

Helsinki City Transport Helsinki City Transport or HKL ( Finnish: ''Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos'', Swedish: ''Helsingfors stads trafikverk'', abbreviated to ''HST'') was the official city-owned public transport company in Helsinki, Finland. It operates the Hels ...

, although the operation is planned to be contracted out to a commercial entity later.

Rolling stock

A total of 29 bi-directional Škoda Artic X54 units have been ordered for the line. The model, also known as Artic XL, is based on the Artic model originally designed for Helsinki's tram network and will also be used on the

Crown Bridges The Crown Bridges (, ) is the name given to three bridges under construction in the Finnish city of Helsinki, creating a new tram link and cycle path to the island of Laajasalo. Background The city council of Helsinki decided on 31 August 201 ...

lines. All trams are based at Roihupelto tram depot, which was built beside the used by

References

External links

{{Tram systems in Finland Transport in Helsinki Tram transport in Finland Light rail in Finland Railway lines opened in 2023