The Project Manager submitted to the Board a status report on the construction and cost monitoring of the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section through the war room’s monitoring view. Construction is progressing in line with the project plan’s risk-assessed schedule and budget. Metro traffic is expected to start up on the new section during 2023. Test runs of the rolling stock will start in June and testing with the metro trains in early autumn. Testing is proceeding according to plan.
The Construction Manager for the Kaitaa station presented the station using photos. Worksite visits are not possible due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
Länsimetro Oy’s CFO presented the cost monitoring and budget for procurement decisions for the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section. Construction is progressing in line with the project plan’s budget. Länsimetro Oy’s financial statements have been published as part of the financial statements of the City of Espoo. Financials | Länsimetro (lansimetro.fi)
The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on 24 June 2021.
Further information:
Olli Isotalo, Chairman of the Board of Länsimetro Oy, tel. +358 (0)50 593 3359
Ville Saksi, CEO, Länsimetro Oy, tel. +358 (0)40 823 2086
Media contacts: Satu Linkola, Communications Director, tel. +358 (0)46 877 3392
Art will be incorporated into the architecture of every metro station along the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section. The aim is to make the stations more attractive, inviting and recognisable. The metro stations will feature art in various forms – light, sound, paintings and sculptures.
The pair of sculptures by Kalle Mustonen called “Wanderers” is the featured work of art at the Kivenlahti terminal station. The installation of the sculptures on the station platform began in March 2021 and was declared completed in the review carried out in late May. This was the culmination of a long process. Mustonen began to sketch the Wanderers in autumn 2018, after which he made a scale model of the sculptures and prepared working drawings. He began creating the full-sized pair of sculptures in October 2019, and the 17-month-long journey came to an end with the review in May. In the autumn, a competition will be held to name the work of art.
The terminal station’s landmark consists of two wooden figures that are approximately two and three metres high. The humorous figures, which appear to be running in the middle of the metro platform, are endearing and will stand the test of time. Created in warm wood, the sculptures contrast with the otherwise light tones of the metro station. ALA-Architects is responsible for the architectural design of the station.
Conceptual rendering of the Wanderers in autumn 2018. Photo: K. MustonenThe parts of the Wanderers prior to surface treatment, ready for transport to Kivenlahti. Photo: K. Mustonen.The Wanderers sculptures will be protected on the platform at Kivenlahti metro station during the finalisation of construction and testing. Photo: P. Littu.
Länsimetro Oy’s Maintenance Manager presented the Q1 report for the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä section owned by Länsimetro Oy, as well as HKL’s report for Länsimetro Oy on property maintenance, rail maintenance, and mandatory test runs and repairs related to maintenance. HKL reports to Länsimetro Oy on the use of the rail line and stations and related service and maintenance tasks.
The Managing Director submitted to the Board a status report on the construction and cost monitoring of the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section through the war room’s monitoring view. Construction is progressing in line with the project plan’s risk-assessed schedule and budget. Metro traffic is expected to start up on the new section during 2023. Test runs of the rolling stock will start in June and testing with the metro trains in early autumn.
The CEO presented the risk report on construction of the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section. The project is proceeding in line with the project plan’s schedule and budget.
Länsimetro Oy’s CFO presented the cost monitoring for the Matinkylä-Kivenlahti section, the budget for procurement decisions and financial statements for the subsidiaries and associated companies. Construction is progressing in line with the project plan’s budget. Länsimetro Oy’s financial statements will be published as part of the financial statements of the City of Espoo.
Länsimetro Oy’s Communications Director presented communications measures during Q4 and Q1. Planning of communications for the commissioning phase leading up to the start of metro traffic has begun in co-operation with HSL, HKL and the City of Espoo. Metro traffic is expected to start up on the new section during 2023. A more detailed schedule will be released as the construction and testing phase of the West Metro moves forward. Once coronavirus restrictions are lifted, visits to the stations can be arranged again as planned.
The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on 27 May 2021.
Further information:
Olli Isotalo, Chairman of the Board of Länsimetro Oy, tel. +358 (0)50 593 3359
Ville Saksi, CEO, Länsimetro Oy, tel. +358 (0)40 823 2086
Media contacts: Satu Linkola, Communications Director, tel. +358 (0)46 877 3392
The Financial Manager is responsible for the financial management, budgeting and reporting for the metro infrastructure owned by Länsimetro Oy. The varied duties also include developing services for metro stations, the financial administration for Länsimetro Oy’s subsidiaries and the cost monitoring for the West Metro’s second-phase construction project.
The main focus of the tasks of Länsimetro Oy’s Financial Manager Sami Järvinen is the financial management, budgeting and reporting for the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä section’s metro system, rail line and stations, owned and maintained by Länsimetro Oy. Järvinen’s job includes, for example, the cost monitoring of the metro’s maintenance and investments, and drawing up different types of forecasts and analyses for the company and project organisation. Järvinen has worked as Financial Manager since the end of 2020. Before transferring to his position as Financial Manager, he worked as Project Controller for the West Metro as of 2018.
“The best thing about work, and especially my current job, is to feel that my job matters. The metro is a wise investment in my opinion, which will increase the land value and leave room for developing the urban environment or conserving nature. I enjoy the variety my job offers. The changes occurring in the project and the permanence of the operating metro offer a clear contrast. Developing the metro from the owner’s perspective is interesting work, and the figures show even the smallest changes,” Järvinen describes the significance of his job.
Länsimetro Oy is a limited liability company that is jointly owned by the cities of Espoo and Helsinki. It employs 19 people. Financial administration employs not only the Financial Manager, but also the CFO and Financial and Administrative Assistant.
Länsimetro Oy’s task is to build, own, maintain and develop the West Metro system, tracks and stations from Ruoholahti westwards. The transport operator and developer of the rail section and stations from Ruoholahti eastward is the City of Helsinki, more precisely Helsinki City Transport, HKL. In addition to the service and maintenance of the rail line and stations, HKL is responsible for metro traffic and owns the metro train fleet. HKL reports to Länsimetro Oy on the use of the rail line and stations and related service and maintenance tasks.
“As Financial Manager, I collaborate a lot with HKL, for instance. The metro traffic operator HKL budgets the maintenance and servicing costs for the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä section annually and reports to us. I monitor the formation of costs and assess the sufficiency of the budget,” Järvinen sums up.
The Financial Manager also develops Länsimetro Oy’s in-house reporting practices. For example in 2020, the West Metro’s maintenance transferred to real-time reporting through the Power BI software.
The Financial Manager’s tasks include also financial responsibility for Länsimetro Oy’s subsidiaries, their operations and administrative management. The management of Länsimetro’s subsidiaries involves not only management of the company, but also more traditional real estate company duties such as arranging property maintenance and repairs. Over the past year, sliding doors and an anti-bird net have been installed to increase user satisfaction at the bus terminal.
Länsimetro Oy’s subsidiaries are Kiinteistö Oy Matinkylän Liityntäpysäköinti, Kiinteistö Oy Matinkylän Bussiterminaali and Kiinteistö Oy Kivenlahden Liityntäpysäköinti. Kiinteistö Oy Matinkylän Liityntäpysäköinti supplies Matinkylä metro station’s park & ride services, Kiinteistö Oy Matinkylän Bussiterminaali owns the public transport terminal facilities and serves bus company operators and passengers and Kiinteistö Oy Kivenlahden Liityntäpysäköinti will supply park & ride services for the future Kivenlahti metro station. Länsimetro Oy also owns 18% of Tapiolan keskuspysäköinti Oy.
Development of services at metro stations
In addition to Länsimetro Oy owning and maintaining the metro system, rail line and stations of the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä section it has built, it is also in charge of construction of the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section. In this second phase of the West Metro project, the Financial Manager’s tasks include, for example, drawing up a cash flow forecast and making cash flow statements, and cost monitoring and forecasts for construction and planning.
Länsimetro Oy develops services and commercial operations for the metro stations in use on the Ruoholahti-Matinkylä section and the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section under construction. The Financial Manager plans the projects together with the management team and responsible experts, and is responsible for the implementation of the projects.
“The goal is to make the metro stations as pleasant and practical as possible for passengers. The metro station facilities can be used to serve passengers together with different operators – the next metro station pilot project is parcel lockers. Metro stations are a natural location for services that people can use along their journeys.”
At the Iivisniemenkallio entrance worksite area at Kaitaa metro station, aboveground backfill work will start on Monday, 24 May 2021. The work will continue until the end of the week starting on 31 May. In the backfill work, the surface level of the worksite area will be raised by filling it with gravel. The work will increase truck traffic to Iivisniemenkallio. After the backfill, the surface will have a gravel finish.
The area’s worksite barriers will be removed during the summer. Permanent metal fences have already been installed at the some of the highest points. Some of the worksite barriers will remain around the worksite area until the end of the construction project.
The Kaitaa metro station includes the Kaitaantie entrance and the Iivisniemenkallio entrance option.
The Iivisniemenkallio entrance will not be taken into use when metro traffic from Matinkylä to Kivenlahti starts in 2023. Iivesniemenkallio also includes Kaitaa metro station’s technical shaft.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the backfill work.
Further information
24/7 phone line of the Kaitaa contractor, consortium YIT–ARE: +358 (0)50 539 3208
Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 1 pm): +358 (0)50 377 3700
The smoke extraction fans for the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section are being tested between the 17th and 21st of May 2021. During the testing, a whirring sound may be heard in the vicinity from time to time.
Performance tests will be carried out on the smoke extraction fans during week 20 as follows:
Monday, 17 May 2021, 8 am–3 pm, Kaitaa metro station, Hyljetie shaft and Riilahti shaft
Tuesday, 18 May, 8 am–3 pm, Soukka metro station and Opettajantie shaft
Wednesday, 19 May, 8 am–noon, Finnoo metro station, and noon–3 pm Kauklahdenväylä shaft
Thursday, 20 May, 8 am–3 pm, Espoonahti and Maininkitie shaft
Friday, 21 May, 8 am–noon, Kivenlahti
A whirring sound may be heard from time to time at the West Metro’s stations and shafts during testing. We apologise for any noise disturbance.
Smoke extraction fans are used in case of fire to blow smoke away from the underground facilities along fire-compartmented routes into the outside air. There are smoke extraction fans in the metro line’s vertical shafts and the metro stations’ eastern and western ends. All in all, 15 smoke extraction fans have been installed on the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section.
Further information
Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 1 pm) 050 377 3700
The test runs ensure that the smoke extraction system operates in all circumstances and situations as planned. After testing the components of the smoke extraction system, the entire system’s operation will be tested. Finally, tests will be carried out of the smoke extraction system’s operation as part of the metro station and rail line.
Systems testing will ensure that all of the 52 different technical systems installed in the West Metro function safely and as planned under all conditions. The systems testing will begin with point testing and progress to the testing of larger entities, such as functions, systems and stations, as well as testing between stations and testing of the entire metro infrastructure. Read more about testing. Test runs ensure that all of the installed systems work as planned.
When it comes to the smoke extraction system, point testing will ensure that the equipment related to the system, such as smoke dampers, vents, fans and frequency converters, are installed appropriately. The idea behind point testing is to identify any errors in connections and the operation of individual devices before moving on to the next testing phase, the test runs. The smoke extraction system test runs are used to check that the required smoke compartment starts up and that the related equipment operates as planned, for example that the smoke dampers and vents position themselves correctly and that the smoke extraction fans blow in the correct direction.
Smoke extraction fans are used in case of fire to blow smoke away from the underground facilities along fire-compartmented routes into the outside air.There are smoke extraction fans in the metro line’s vertical shafts and the metro stations’ eastern and western ends. The first smoke extraction fans were installed in Kivenlahti in autumn 2019.Installation of the smoke extraction fans was completed in July of 2020.Photo: M. Wirman.
The smoke extraction fans located at the stations are smaller than the massive fans located along the rail line. The test runs of the larger fans will be carried out at a later phase when the test phases move forward and the stations and rail lines are closer to completion.
Fire alarm testing at the Kivenlahti metro station. In the tests, the fire alarm is activated using a long rod. The testing of the fire alarm controls ensures that smoke extraction will start up automatically when a fire alarm is set off in the space in question. Photo: J. Ilkanheimo.
Passers-by may notice the smoke extraction fan test runs when the smoke extraction vents on the facades of the metro stations open up and the noise of the fan is heard. Any disturbances occurring in the area surrounding the station will be announced on the West Metro website.
It was possible to see the progress of the smoke extraction fan installations on the Construction pages, where you can follow the progress and testing of a few key construction projects and installations from the War Room (in Finnish).
On the Construction pages you can follow the progress of a few key construction projects and installations at the Matinkylä-Kivenlahti section stations and on the rail line from the war room, including descriptions of completed installations and the monitoring of testing progress (in Finnish). One issue being monitored is the degree of completion, which was 89% in April. The degree of completion includes the construction and testing phases.
In April 2021, the degree of completion was 89%, which includes the ongoing Matinkylä-Kivenlahti section’s construction work and testing phase. The construction phase is taking place from 2019 to 2021. Construction of the stations, track and depot began in stages at the end of 2018.
Kivenlahti metro station. Photo: S. Toivola.
The degree of completion was added to the Construction pages (in Finnish) as a monitored factor in September 2020. The degree of completion has been monitored in the war room from the start of the construction contracts. On the Construction pages, the progress of the construction work and installations has been monitored since March 2020. Of the monitored construction work and installations, the installation of the substations, standby generators, smoke extraction fans, escalators, WC modules, fire shutter doors and sliding doors and the installation of the superstructure contract’s sleepers, rails and switches have been completed since then.
In addition to the construction phase, the degree of completion includes the testing phase, which has already started on the Matinkylä-Kivenlahti section with point testing. Systems testing will ensure that all of the 52 different systems installed in the West Metro function safely and as planned under all conditions. The systems testing will begin with point testing on single components and progress to the testing of larger entities, such as functions, systems and stations, as well as testing between stations and testing of the entire metro infrastructure. The testing phases will be discussed in separate articles as testing progresses.
The project’s progress is measured using the earned value method, in which factors are weighted based on their value in euros. For example, if one side of a four-sided fence costing EUR 4,000 has been completed, the earned value is EUR 1,000 and the degree of completion is 25% (1000 €/4000 € x 100% = 25%).
Degree of completion 100% when all contracts are completed
The monitored degree of completion will be 100% when all the contracts are completed. A contract has finished when the contractor hands the work over to the customer, i.e. Länsimetro, and Länsimetro accepts it. The degree of completion is currently very high, at close to 90%, as most of the construction work is completed and there is still testing work to be done. This progress, the final few per cent, will be monitored separately in the commissioning phase’s schedules.
Testing, and the resulting authority inspections, will continue until 2023. The joint local authority Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) will decide when metro traffic can begin. It has been estimated that commuter traffic from Matinkylä to Kivenlahti will begin during 2023. After construction, Länsimetro Oy will remain the owner and developer also of the new metro section. Länsimetro Oy’s task is to build, own, maintain and develop the West Metro system, tracks and stations from Ruoholahti westwards.
The plywood barriers at Soukka metro station’s worksites will be removed over a period of four weeks starting this week, and at the same time, temporary wire fencing will be installed. The dismantling and installation work will not affect circulation around the worksites. The fences will be removed as follows:
Week of April 12th – the technical shaft on Yläkartanontie
Week of April 26th – the Soukantori entrance
Week of May 3rd – the Yläkartanontie entrance
Some of the fences in question have already been removed as part of the landscaping of the Soukanväylä worksite.
The Soukka metro station has two entrances: The Soukantori entrance and the Yläkartanontie entrance. The technical shaft on Yläkartanontie is intended for the smoke extraction, pressure equalisation and ventilation related to the metro station’s operations. There is also a technical shaft related to the station’s operations next to the Soukantori entrance, as well as a service tunnel and exit shaft at Soukanväylä.
Further information
24/7 phone line of the Soukka contractor, consortium YIT–ARE: +358 (0)40 628 8161
Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 1 pm): +358 (0)50 377 3700
Operational tests will be conducted on the Kaitaa metro station’s standby generator on 30 March, between 8 am and 4 pm. The tests may cause odour nuisance and possibly some noise in the surrounding environment.
The tests will ensure that the standby generator functions as it should. Read more about the ongoing testing phase and the progress of construction: Construction | Länsimetro (lansimetro.fi)
Every new metro station, as well as the Sammalvuori depot, will be equipped with a standby generator. A total of six standby generators will be installed in the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section. The standby generator will start up automatically after a few seconds if the transformers serving the station’s HVAC and electricity lose power due to a defect or, for instance, a nationwide power outage. The standby generators have a rated power of 500 kilowatts. This capacity is sufficient to maintain the metro station’s key safety functions, such as lighting, the PA system, the evacuation elevator and access control. The standby generator ensures the metro station’s safe operation in the event of a power outage and people’s safe exit from the station.
Further information
24/7 phone line of the Soukka contractor, consortium YIT–ARE: +358 (0)40 628 8161
Länsimetro’s feedback line (Mon–Fri, 9 am to 1 pm): +358 (0)50 377 3700
