Länsimetro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section contains information about proposed, planned or expected public transportation infrastructure. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the infrastructure approaches, and more information becomes available.

Existing Metro system in orange, the section approved for construction in solid green color and a planned extension in dashed green color

The Western Metro Extension (Finnish: Länsimetro, Swedish: Västmetron) will be an extension of the Helsinki Metro system from central Helsinki, Finland, to the neighbouring city of Espoo.

Construction is expected to start in 2009 after final approval for a 13.5-kilometre (8.4 mi) route was granted on 4 April 2007. The new stretch of line will extend from the existing Ruoholahti metro station via the island of Lauttasaari and the Helsinki University of Technology (at Otaniemi) to a new terminus at Matinkylä. A future phase could extend this again, to Kivenlahti.

[edit] History

The Länsimetro was first proposed already when the Helsinki Metro system was first being designed in the 1950s. After the two forks of the Metro line eastwards from Helsinki had been completed, the Länsimetro continued to be proposed. Until the early 2000s, Espoo continued to reject such a proposal.

Espoo is the second most populous city in Finland, currently served by road and bus transport. The east-west Länsiväylä motorway forming the connection into Helsinki. As the primary passageway between southern Espoo and central Helsinki, the road has been repeatedly enlarged to cope with congestion, but still sees chronic traffic jams at certain lines. Widening the Länsiväylä has so-far not affected the traffic jams, instead moving them closer to the centre of Helsinki.

Since the 1990s, the Finnish state and the city of Helsinki have been ready to finance their portions of the project and commence construction, but Espoo for a long time opposed the project, mainly because of financing: the state had only agreed to pay 30% of the costs and Espoo had been wanting the state to contribute at least 70%.

Helsinki made an official suggestion to Espoo to construct the Länsimetro in 1997. A year later, on 8 December 1998 the city council of Espoo had decided to only support extending the metro system to Tapiola, leaving off the planned continuation to Matinkylä and even Kivenlahti. On 16 February 1999, Espoo changed its statement and showed support for the plans to extend the metro to Matinkylä (with a vote of 48 to 18).

The Länsimetro issue was reawakened again in 2002 when a new plan for public traffic in the capital area by Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV) was being made. YTV prioritised the Länsimetro over extension of a light rail line in to Espoo, a view that differed from that taken by Espoo city council. A compromise solution to investigate a "southern Espoo railway connection" (allowing for an express tram) was added, and both this railway connection and a light rail line were scheduled for 2010 to 2020.

According to a survey requested by Helsingin Sanomat in late 2005, 77% of Espoo residents and 90% of Helsinki residents were in favour of the Western Metro extension^[1].

On 25 September 2006, the Espoo city council made an official decision about whether to adopt the Länsimetro. The result was 45 votes to 19 in favour of the metro. ^[2]. The construction of the metro will begin as soon as possible.

After Espoo city council had passed the decision allowing tax-generated income to be put towards the extension project—the worry was that such a large expense could conceivably bankrupt Espoo. In response, critics of the decision proceeded to take the municipality of Espoo to the highest administrative court on a charge of "neglect in the decision-making"^[3].

[edit] Controversy and alternatives

In 2002, a joint study^[4] by the City of Helsinki, the City of Espoo and the Ministry of Transport and Communications compared the impact of the metro extension with building a bus rapid transit system. The running costs of the two were estimated to be rough equivalent. The metro would reduce emissions in Helsinki, but feeder buses would increase them in Espoo.^[4] The metro would make travel from parts of Espoo near the new stations to Helsinki faster and more convenient, but would increase the travel time from outlying areas.

A second study^[5] by the same parties, published in 2004, investigated the alternative option of a light rail line. Supporters of the light rail line claimed^{[citation needed]} it would be cheaper, faster to implement, and more environment-friendly than a traditional metro line. The primary disadvantage of the metro was seen to be^{[citation needed]} having to build denser housing along the line to make it more profitable. Espoo is a relatively loosely built city with a lot of detached houses leading to a reputation as an upper middle class city. There have been fears^{[citation needed]} that the building of the Länsimetro would create tighter residential centres around each new metro station, and the Espoo "image" might suffer.

An advantage of the metro line was the existing metro network, and coupling the light rail line to the metro network would have caused all passengers travelling from east Helsinki to Espoo to switch train systems. The metro option would allow for continuous trips from all stations in Espoo to all Helsinki stations from Ruoholahti to Kalasatama and beyond.

Opponents of the light rail line claimed it to be an additional form of rail transport to the already diversely composed rail transport network in the capital area. Supporters claimed that the light rail line could be easily integrated to the existing Helsinki tram network, with the work required being cheaper than that of a metro line.

In 2006, an informal private-sector shadow plan for a light rail alternative called TramWest^[6] was released. According to critics, the plan underestimated costs and the line was partly placed in areas where it would have been impossible to implement. TramWest also included many level crossings, which, if done badly, would slow down public transport. The plan would also have caused the parks designed into the Kiasma and Helsinki music house areas to be cut through with a light rail line. The plan would have caused all lines to end at the Elielinaukio square next to the central railway station without integrating to any existing or future railway line. A revised version of the plan in 2008, claiming to address most of these concerns^[7], was releaed in early 2008. The new plan proposes connecting Espoo to both the Länsiväylä and city centre areas, but with the eastern extremity relocated from Elielinaukio square to either Viikki or Laajasalo.

[edit] Cost

Preliminary plans, made in 2000 and 2001, cited the cost of the metro extension to Matinkylä to be about €400 million. When the Espoo city council decided on construction of the metro in 2004, the estimated price was €452 million. In September 2007, the estimated price of the Länsimetro was at least €530 million.^[8]. In December 2007, Olavi Louko estimated that the price will rise to at least €600 million. According to Louko, the price of the excavation work has risen a third more than that of other ground construction work—with the factors for the increase including simultaneous excavation work, construction of the Kehärata in 2009 and security requirements.^[9]

As of 2008^[update] the estimated cost had risen to over €800 million^[10].

[edit] Current project

The cities of Espoo and Helsinki jointly founded a company called Länsimetro Oy (English: Western Metro Limited) to implement the metro extension from the present Ruoholahti to Matinkylä^{[citation needed]}. The CEO of the joint company is Matti Kokkinen.

[edit] Conditions

Espoo's criterion for acceptance was that planning for the second stage of the line should also be started. The first stage of the Länsimetro is expected to be completed in 2013. The Espoo city council has set a number of requirements for the project:

• The Finnish state must commit to financing the Länsimetro extension all the way to Kivenlahti.
• The existing heavy railway line between Leppävaara and Espoo Centre should be widened from two tracks to three, in conjunction with the Länsimetro project.
• The orbital "Joker" bus line (Finnish: Jokerilinja) should be converted to a light rail line/tram, as soon as possible.
• The orbital Kehä I ring road should be improved.
• The orbital Kehä II ring road should be continued around into Helsinki, via Vihdintie, to Hämeenlinnanväylä.

[edit] Projected route

A metro line extension was accepted as a basis for further planning in 2000. The locations of the stations was confirmed by the cities of Espoo and Helsinki in June 2007. The extension will be completely underground with the following stations (tentative names):

Ruoholahti–Matinkylä
	Ruoholahti
	Lauttasaari
	Koivusaari
	Keilaniemi
	Otaniemi
	Tapiola
	Niittymaa
	Niittykumpu
	Matinkylä

Ruoholahti—Matinkylä section

• Ruoholahti (existing station)
• Lauttasaari
• Koivusaari (last station in Helsinki)
• Keilaniemi (first station in Espoo)
• Otaniemi (Helsinki University of Technology)
• Tapiola
• Niittymaa
• Niittykumpu (provision made for building later)
• Matinkylä

Of the stations listed above, the first three would be in Helsinki, the stations after that in Espoo. A station at Niittykumpu will not be built initially, because the population of the area is considered too low. However, the space for a future station will be excavated during the construction of the metro line.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official web site of the Länsimetro project
• Environmental impact assessment of the Ruoholahti–Matinkylä track
• Länsimetro would be the most efficient form of public transport for Espoo, Helsingin Sanomat
• Examination of the need and feasibility of a Länsimetro track from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä (2002)