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.”