The construction of the west metro on the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä section will mostly be completed by the end of 2015. The installation of tracks will begin on the second week of February in 2015, and the metro rail from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä will be ready for traffic in January 2016. Test runs will begin after this. The aim is to open the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä section for passenger traffic in August 2016. Excavation of the access tunnels in the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section is under way. This section will be completed in 2020.
“The dissolution of the contract between HKL and Siemens on the automation of the metro means that operation will initially be manual. The condensing urban structure in both Helsinki and Espoo, however, will require the metro train system to be automated in the 2020s. “This will ensure that the trains run at sufficiently frequent intervals and that a good service level can be maintained,” explains the Chairman of the Board of Länsimetro Oy, Olavi Louko.
Construction is progressing at stations and on the rail line 73 per cent of the concrete pouring for the stations on the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä line has been completed. 84 per cent of the support wall elements at the sides of the tunnels have been installed, and 13 per cent of the track ballasting has been completed.
“Our aim is that the metro will be opened for traffic in August 2016. Construction is now progressing briskly, and we have 1,200 construction professional at work. The worksites on the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section have also started operations, with over 100 employees already at work,” says Länsimetro Oy CEO Matti Kokkinen.
The Helsinki City Council decided on the automation of the metro in 2006. The project plan for the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä section was completed in 2008. Construction of the first phase started in 2009.
More information:
Länsimetro Oy, CEO Matti Kokkinen, tel. +358 50 347 1558, matti.kokkinen(at)lansimetro.fi
Länsimetro Oy is a company jointly owned by the Cities of Espoo and Helsinki, tasked with building the West Metro underground line. The aim is to complete construction of the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä section by the end of 2015. Construction of the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section is under way. This section will be completed in 2020.