Helsinki commuter rail

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Helsinki commuter rail is the commuter rail system serving Greater Helsinki, Finland. The network is operated by VR, the Finnish national railway company. The first service started operating in 1969. Together with the Helsinki Metro and trams, the network forms the heart of Helsinki's public transportation infrastructure.

Trains run above grade in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Within the municipalities of Espoo, Helsinki, Kauniainen, Kerava, Kirkkonummi, and Vantaa, the system uses tickets that are interchangeable with the bus, metro and tram networks managed by the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council and by Helsinki City Transport.

The network is composed of 15 separate services, pictured in the network map below. They operate on all four branches of the railway lines that begin at the Helsinki main railway station, which is where they all terminate. The system has a total of 54 stations, 14 of which are within the city of Helsinki.

On the Helsinki–Leppävaara and Helsinki–Kerava track sections, the commuter services use rails parallel to but separate from those used by long-distance trains, following the S-Bahn principle. The railway branch from Kerava to Lahti, opened in 2006, was built as a shortcut for long-distance services, and also for the use of the new commuter service Z.

The railway branch from Huopalahti to Martinlaakso, opened in 1975 and later extended to Vantaankoski, was built exclusively for commuter trains. Preparations are currently underway on a new Ring Rail Line to further extend the branch from Vantaankoski via Aviapolis and Helsinki-Vantaa airport to the main branch above Tikkurila station. The extension is drafted to introduce five new stations with reservations for three more.

Services L and T run during the night and the early morning. Service N runs all day on Sunday, but on the other days, only during the night and the early morning.

Contents 1 Lines 1.1 Rantarata 1.2 The Vantaankoski track 1.3 The Helsinki-Riihimäki-track 1.4 The Lahti track 1.5 Former trains 1.6 The lengths of the tracks and track map 2 Rolling stock 3 External links

[edit] Lines

[edit] Rantarata

Train Y runs from Helsinki to Karjaa. There are 3–7 runs for the train every day. The trains stop at Pasila, Leppävaara and Masala railway stations and on every station between Kirkkonummi and Karjaa.

When Finland's first electric part of track was finished (from Helsinki to Kirkkonummi), the first service was Y. In 1987 the former Y-train service was finished and replaced by S- and U-trains in 1988. In 2002 the service mark Y was taken to use again, because when Leppävaara's track was finished there was a possibility to add some fast commuter train schedules to Karjaa. Before this some of the S- and U-trains continued from Kirkkonummi to Karjaa.

Train S goes from Helsinki to Kirkkonummi. It runs one train in an hour to both directions. Of the two trains running between Helsinki and Kirkkonummi depending on the timetables the S-trains are faster.

S-trains stop between Helsinki and Leppävaara at Pasila and Huopalahti. Between Leppävaara and Kauklahti it stops on every station. Between Kauklahti and Kirkkonummi it stops only at Masala.

From May 28th 1972 to May 25th 1974 the S-trains were running between Helsinki and Kauniainen. The line was continued to Kirkkonummi at September 27th 1987.

Train U goes from Helsinki to Kirkkonummi. It runs once in an hour. It stops between Helsinki and Leppävaara only at Pasila and Huopalahti. Between Leppävaara and Kirkkonummi it stops on every station.

Train L goes from Helsinki to Kirkkonummi. It's a night train, and it stops on every station. The line runs only at nights and on weekend mornings.

Train E goes from Helsinki to Kauklahti. It stops between Helsinki and Leppävaara only at Pasila and Huopalahti and between Leppävaara and Kauklahti on every station. It runs once in half an hour, except on Sundays, when the line is not running. The line was continues in August 2007 to Kauklahti from Espoo.

Train A goes from Helsinki to Leppävaara. It stops on every station. It goes once in every 10 minutes during the rush hours, otherwise it goes once in 20 minutes and on weekend once in half an hour. The mark A was originally in use from May 28th 1972 to May 25th 1974, but it was taken to use again in June 2002.

[edit] The Vantaankoski track

Train M goes from Helsinki to Vantaankoski. It goes once in 10-30 minutes. It stops on every station. The line has been servicing all the time since the track to Martinlaakso was finished in 1975. In 1991 the line was continued to Vantaankoski. In the future it might go from Vantaankoski via Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and Tikkurila back to Helsinki.

The letter M comes from Martinlaakso. When the track was continued from Martinlaakso to Vantaankoski in 1991 the mark of the trains stayed as M. Now and then people discuss about changing the mark, because some people might think M means metro.

[edit] The Helsinki-Riihimäki-track

Train I goes from Helsinki to Tikkurila. It goes during rush hours once in every 10 minutes, otherwise it goes once in every 20 minutes. It doesn't service on Sundays or evenings. It stops on every station. When the P-train was cancelled, the I-train started to have more schedules. The line started to service in mid-1990s.

Train K goes from Helsinki to Kerava. It goes once in every 10-20 minutes. It stops between Helsinki and Tikkurila at Pasila, Oulunkylä, Malmi and Puistola. Between Tikkurila and Kerava it stops on every station. There's been planned that the line would continue to Nikkilä in Sipoo.

Train N goes from Helsinki to Kerava. It stops on every station. It services in early morning, late evening and on Sundays. It goes once in every 20-30 minutes. In other times it's route is serviced by trains I, K and T.

Train G goes from Helsinki to Saunakallio. It goes six times every day to both directions and it's the only train in Helsinki-Riihimäki-track that doesn't stop in Tikkurila. It started servicing at June 4th 2007. It stops at Helsinki, Pasila, Kyrölä, Järvenpää and Saunakallio.

Train T goes at night once in an hour from Helsinki to Riihimäki. It stops on every station.

Train H goes from Helsinki to Riihimäki. It goes once in an hour. Many commuters want more schedules for the train. Anyways, this isn't possible before the third track from Kerava to Riihimäki is constructed. It stops between Helsinki and Kerava at Pasila and Tikkurila and between Kerava and Riihimäki on every station.

Train R goes from Helsinki to Riihimäki. It goes once in an hour and services only with the trains with low floor. It stops between Helsinki and Riihimäki at Pasila, Tikkurila, Kerava, Järvenpää, Jokela and Hyvinkää. Some of the schedules also continue to Tampere or Kouvola.

[edit] The Lahti track

Train Z goes from Helsinki to Lahti. It goes once in an hour. It services by the trains with low floor. It stops between Helsinki and Lahti at Pasila, Tikkurila, Kerava, Haarajoki ans Mäntsälä. The rush hour trains are usually pretty much filled between Helsinki and Kerava, and that's why they are serviced with longer trains.

[edit] Former trains

Train P went from Helsinki to Hiekkaharju and it stopped on every station. The line started servicing in 1972 and stopped in August 2004. There have been plans about taking P-train to use again on line from Helsinki via Tikkurila, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and Huopalahti back to Helsinki.

[edit] The lengths of the tracks and track map

• Helsinki-Riihimäki 71 km (54 min)
• Helsinki-Lahti 104 km (60 min)
• Helsinki-Kerava 29 km (23 min)
• Helsinki-Tikkurila 16 km (14 min)
• Helsinki-Karjaa 87 km (1 h 7 min)
• Helsinki-Kirkkonummi 38 km (30 min)
• Helsinki-Kauklahti 24 km (29 min)
• Helsinki-Leppävaara 11 km (12 min)
• Helsinki-Vantaankoski 15 km (22 min)

 v • d • e Helsinki commuter rail network map

	Y							M
Karjaa	●							●	Vantaankoski					T	H	R		Z
Inkoo	●							●	Martinlaakso					●	●	●	Riihimäki	●	Lahti
Siuntio	●	S	U	L				●	Louhela					●	●	●	Hyvinkää	｜
Kirkkonummi	●	●	●	●				●	Myyrmäki					●	●	●	Jokela	｜
Tolsa	｜	｜	●	●				●	Malminkartano					●	●	｜	Nuppulinna	｜
Jorvas	｜	｜	●	●				●	Kannelmäki				G	●	●	｜	Purola	●	Mäntsälä
Masala	●	●	●	●				●	Pohjois-Haaga				●	●	●	｜	Saunakallio	｜
Luoma	｜	｜	●	●				｜					●	●	●	●	Järvenpää	●	Haarajoki
Mankki	｜	｜	●	●	E			｜			K	N	●	●	●	｜	Kyrölä	｜
Kauklahti	｜	●	●	●	●			｜			●	●	｜	●	●	●	––––––––––	●	Kerava
Espoo	｜	●	●	●	●			｜			●	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Savio
Tuomarila	｜	●	●	●	●			｜			●	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Korso
Koivuhovi	｜	●	●	●	●			｜			●	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Rekola
Kauniainen	｜	●	●	●	●			｜			●	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Koivukylä
Kera	｜	●	●	●	●			｜		I	●	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Hiekkaharju
Kilo	｜	●	●	●	●	A		｜		●	●	●	｜	●	●	●	––––––––––	●	Tikkurila
Leppävaara	●	●	●	●	●	●		｜		●	●	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Puistola
Mäkkylä	｜	｜	｜	●	｜	●		｜		●	｜	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Tapanila
Pitäjänmäki	｜	｜	｜	●	｜	●		｜		●	●	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Malmi
Valimo	｜	｜	｜	●	｜	●		｜		●	｜	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Pukinmäki
Huopalahti	｜	●	●	●	●	●	––	●		●	●	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Oulunkylä
Ilmala	｜	｜	｜	●	｜	●	––	●		●	｜	●	｜	●	｜	｜		｜	Käpylä
Pasila	●	●	●	●	●	●	––	●	––––––	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	––––––––––	●	Pasila
Helsinki	●	●	●	●	●	●	––	●	––––––	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	––––––––––	●	Helsinki
	Y	S	U	L	E	A	x	M	xx	I	K	N	G	T	H	R		Z

[edit] Rolling stock

The electric multiple units Sm1, Sm2 and the new Sm4 are used. In rush hour some locomotive pulled trains are also used.

Photos

Modern Sm4 EMU at Pasila

Sm2 EMU from 1970s between Pasila and Helsinki

[edit] External links

• Official website

v • d • e Public transport in Helsinki Helsinki City Transport · Helsinki Metro · Helsinki tram · Helsinki commuter rail · Helsinki-Vantaa Airport · Baltic Sea cruiseferries