Year: 2016

West Metro ready for trial operation in January 2017 – No major changes to Espoo bus network on 15 August

The schedule for the opening of the West Metro has been revised. Construction work and test runs of various systems at stations will be completed in October after which the systems will be tested together to ensure compatibility along with safety. According to current estimates, trial operation with passengers could begin at the latest in January 2017. A more detailed schedule will be available in October once enough test data is available.

“The West Metro project is a large undertaking. All systems must be operational to enable safe operation of the Metro. We want to make sure there is enough time for the tests,” says the CEO on Länsimetro Oy Matti Kokkinen.

Once the tests have been completed, the Rescue Departments of the Cities of Espoo and Helsinki will approve the safety systems, after which the construction supervisory authorities of the cities can approve the opening of the stations and tunnels. In addition, Helsinki City Transport HKL needs to set a date for the safe commencement of services, while HSL will decide when trial operation with passengers will begin. After this, HSL will decide when the full Metro service and operation of feeder bus services will begin.

The West Metro is the largest infrastructure project in Finland. It consists of over 270 separate sub-projects and has employed in total 15,800 construction workers.

No major changes to bus network in Espoo in the autumn – new bus routes for Lauttasaari
There will be no major changes to public transport services in Espoo, Kauniainen and Kirkkonummi on 15 August 2016. By contrast, bus routes in Lauttasaari will change but there will be direct bus links to Kamppi and the city center from all parts of the island. HSL has reached an agreement on the operation of the routes with bus companies following negotiations.

The routes will operate at least until the end of 2016. If the West Metro is not running by that time, bus services will continue to run.

“For us the most important thing was to find a solution that would serve our customers as well as possible. Now most of the routes are familiar to people and the level of public transport service remains good. We appreciate the flexibility and cooperation of the bus operators,” says HSL Executive Director Suvi Rihtniemi.

The biggest changes to bus routes will be seen in Lauttasaari, where the route network will be a combination of the current network and planned feeder services. However, direct and frequently running services will be provided from around Lauttasaari to Kamppi.

In Lehtisaari and Kuusisaari, the route network will remain the same with the exception of route 506, which will run only between Viikki and Meilahti from 15 August.

Bus routes renumbered in North Espoo

In South Espoo, the route numbers will not change. In North Espoo, the route numbers will change as planned on 15 August. Stop signs are being changed during the summer so that information at stops would be up-to-date when the changes take place.

In addition, service routes in Espoo will be converted into neighborhood routes from 15 August.

New timetables in the Journey Planner in July
The routes and timetables of the bus services from 15 August will be available in the Journey Planner in mid-July. In addition, information about the arrangements related to the delayed opening of the West Metro is provided at hsl.fi.

Bus network in a nutshell
There are no changes to bus routes in Espoo on 15 August, with the following exceptions:

Bus routes are renumbered in North Espoo
Routes 206, 212 and 213 are extended from Meilahti to Kamppi.
A new route, 224 (Leppävaara-Kauniainen-Espoon keskus-Tuomarila), starts operating. It replaces route 51, which is discontinued.
Route 506 is shortened to run between Viikki and Meilahti. Route 501 is withdrawn.
Espoo service routes are converted into neighborhood routes and renumbered.
Changes in Lauttasaari from 15 August:

T services and route 21V continue to run. New routes, 20X Kamppi–Katajaharju, and 21BX (Kamppi–Vattuniemi) start to run.
Routes 65A and 66A are renumbered 65 and 66 and no longer serve Lauttasaari. Route 20 is replaced by route 20X.
At night time, Lauttasaari is served by route 20N (Asema-aukio-Vattuniemi-Katajaharju), as at present.
Route 501 is withdrawn.

Maps and more on HSL webpaige

A revised West Metro deployment plan will be completed on 30 June. HSL is planning to keep most of the current bus routes running in Espoo and Kirkkonummi until the end of the year. An updated project schedule will also be available at the end of June. On the basis of the schedule, HSL will decide when the Metro line will be opened for passenger traffic.

HSL aims to organize bus services in Espoo and Kirkkonummi so that the services would mostly operate as at present also after 15 August. Since last week, HSL has been negotiating with bus companies on the operation of the services. In Lauttasaari, the aim is to provide direct links to the city center but not all current bus routes will be operated.

No final agreements have been reached with bus operators because negotiations on prices are still in progress. However, it is clear that the routes operating from 15 August will be operated at least until the end of the year.

“From the point of view of customers, service provision and passenger information, the best solution would be that as many current routes as possible would continue operating. Customers would not have to learn new temporary bus routes and planners would not have to create them from zero. We hope to reach agreement with bus operators during this and the next week,” says HSL Executive Director Suvi Rihtniemi.

Full bus timetables will be available in the Journey Planner and at HSL.fi by the beginning of August.

Construction works on stations continue – revised deployment plan to be completed at the end of June

Construction works on stations continue along with test runs and testing of technical systems at stations. The revised project deployment plan will be completed on 30 June. An updated project schedule will also be available on that date. On the basis of the new schedule, HSL will decide when the new Metro line will be opened to passenger traffic.

The delay in the opening of the West Metro has to do with the completion of construction and technical works and delayed test runs and testing of devices and systems. To test the various systems together, all systems have to be installed and tested separately first.

“The common goal for all participants in the project is to open a safe, functioning Metro line to traffic as soon as possible,” says the CEO of Länsimetro Oy Matti Kokkinen.

Metro services will operate at more frequent 2.5-minute headways from 15 August. Services will operate on two lines (Kamppi-Mellunmäki and Ruoholahti-Vuosaari) so that the trains will run every 2.5 minutes on the joint section of the lines between Kamppi and Itäkeskus at peak times.

The West Metro will not begin operating on 15 August. The Board of Directors of Länsimetro Oy decided on Friday 10 June to postpone the opening of the new line due to a hold-up in the safety testing of the technical systems.

“The construction of the West Metro is a long process. Test runs of all systems are done at the end of the process, just before opening the line. The test runs have proven to be more demanding than we expected,” says the CEO of Länsimetro Oy, Matti Kokkinen. “The opening of the line to passenger traffic must be postponed until we have a safe and functioning Metro line available. It is extremely unfortunate that this inevitably causes significant inconvenience. However, safety is the top priority.”

HSL redesigs bus routes
No new date for the opening of the line has yet been announced. All technical systems must be tested and after the testing is complete, authorities must approve the Metro line’s facilities, systems and equipment before the line can be opened.

“We are extremely sorry for all inconvenience caused to passengers,” says HSL Executive Director Suvi Rihtniemi.”We are now starting to plan bus routes for Espoo and Lauttasaari for the duration of the delay, which may be months.”

In any case, bus routes in Espoo and Lauttasaari change on 15 August and HSL will redesign the new route network to provide replacement bus services from South Espoo, Lauttasaari and Kirkkonummi to Helsinki. HSL is now starting to plan the routes and timetables and information about the new routes will be provided to passengers later during the summer. On the coastal line, trains will be operated with extra carriages at peak times from mid-August.

Unfortunately, bus services from South Espoo and Lauttasaari will not be as extensive as at present because the new routes have already been tendered and the contracts have been signed.

It is not possible to operate the current routes after 14 August because most of the current contracts with operators terminate at the end of the summer timetable season.

“We will do everything we can so that people would be able to travel as conveniently as possible also from South Espoo, Lauttasaari and Kirkkonummi,” says Rihtniemi.