Public transport in Helsinki consists of bus, tram, metro, train, and ferry services. The system is managed by Helsinki Region Transport (HRT).
The diverse public transport system of Helsinki region consists of trams, suburban metro railways, the subway, bus lines and two ferry lines.
Today, Helsinki (Helsingfors) is the only city in Finland to have access to trams or subway trains. There used to be two other cities in Finland with trams: Turku (Åbo) and Viipuri (Vyborg). However, Turku abandoned trams in 1972 and Viipuri (at that time already part of the USSR) abandoned them in 1957.
The Helsinki Metro, opened in 1982, was the first, and so far the only, subway-system in all of Finland. For the first 16 years of its existence, the line was topologically only one straight line, but in 1998 a fork with three stations each was added at the eastern end of the line.
In 2006 the construction of the long debated extension of the subway system west into southern parts of Espoo (Esbo) was approved in Espoo City Council, and serious debate about an eastern extension into Sipoo (Sibbo) has taken place.[1] To cope with the rising usage the Helsinki Metro is also planned to be further automated by 2014, replacing the old traffic control system with a newer one to allow shorter train intervals, although with shorter trains.
Trains depart from the Central Railway Station and Pasila (Böle) station to destinations across Finland. Pendolinos offer higher speed (up to 220 km/h) connections to major cities, as do Intercity and Intercity2 trains at slightly slower speeds, and regional and suburban trains cover all of the capital region and smaller cities and towns as far north as Riihimäki and Lahti, and as far west as Karis (Karjaa). A tunnel has been proposed to connect Helsinki with Tallinn, though the proposal is still in the investigation phase. Ring Rail Line (Kehärata-Ringbanan), a project to connect Helsinki-Vantaa Airport with the national rail network and downtown Helsinki, has been approved and construction should be completed by 2013.
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Internal bus routes of Helsinki (Helsingin sisäiset linjat, Helsingfors interna linjer) can be found almost anywhere in Helsinki. For some parts of the city these buses provide the backbone of the public transportation system.
The routes are drawn and the timetables set by HRT, but operated by independent companies. HRT holds a competition for each route or a set of routes, and the company offering to operate the route for the best quality-price ratio will get the contract. The quality is measured with a pointing system which gives points for such aspects as the quietness and size of the buses that would be used.
Many of the buses operate as a feeder lines for the Helsinki Metro or VR commuter rail. This is especially true for eastern Helsinki.
Nearly all other routes have the other end of the line in the downtown near the Helsinki Central railway station.
The line numbers for the internal lines contain two digits and for some a letter.
Most lines are operated between 5:30 and 23:45, the most popular between 5:30 and 1:30. Nighttime lines which operate only from 23:45 to 1:30 (and sometimes early morning) are signified by letter N. Lines 01N-09N operate from 2:00 to 5:00 but only on Friday-Saturday and Saturday-Sunday nights.
The regional bus lines are today managed by HRT in similar manner to the management of the internal lines of Helsinki. The regional lines have mostly been designed for moving people between important points in the metropolitan area or for the sole purpose of getting to downtown Helsinki. These lines tend to use the fastest possible way to get out of Helsinki, usually through motorways. They have also quite often newer buses than on internal routes and more empty seats.
Most regional lines that come to downtown end either on Helsinki Central railway station (from eastern Vantaa (Vanda)) and Elielinaukio (Elielplatsen) (from western Vantaa and northern Espoo) next to the Central Railway Station or in the Kampin Keskus, a modern bus terminal (from southern Espoo).
The operating hours for the regional lines are similar to those of the internal lines, but the departures are not as frequent as the city lines.
The line numbers are composed of three digits and occasionally a letter accompanying them, which means a different route than the normal route.
The trams provide transportation in the downtown and areas close to it. The network is composed of 11 lines. Over 50 million trips are made with the trams each year.
The trams are managed and operated by HKL. Line numbers are 1-10 and for some an accompanying letter.
The newest route is no. 9, opened in August 2008.
The metro is the backbone of the public transportation for East Helsinki. There is a single line with two branches. The whole system has 17 stations. Plans for several extensions are in the works. By 2014, all trains should be automatic without drivers.
The metro is managed and operated by HKL.
The commuter train system is the backbone for the areas northeast and northwest from downtown. The network reaches relatively far from Helsinki, and there are more departures from stations near Helsinki and less lines to farther off. It is managed by HRT and operated by VR.
Helsinki has two ferry lines, both operated by Suomenlinnan Liikenne Oy-Sveaborgs Trafik Ab. Ferries connect Suomenlinna (Sveaborg) to the mainland. The ferries are the only connection to the mainland for the residents of Suomenlinna, though a tunnel for emergency vehicle access is in place.
The public transportation system has three zones: internal, regional (two zones) and the whole region (three zones). Internal covers a single city and regional the Helsinki metropolitan area. The whole region covers the Helsinki metropolitan area and additionally Kerava (Kervo) and Kirkkonummi (Kyrkslätt) municipalities. The different areas are symbolised by different colours: Blue signifies Helsinki, green signifies Espoo and Kauniainen (Grankulla), red signifies Vantaa and purple signifies the entire metropolitan area.
The transport system offers a vast number of different tickets and several ways to get them.
Single fare tickets can be bought from bus drivers, tram operators, automats, and by a text message. Each metro station and ferry stop is equipped with at least one ticket automat; most railway stations are, too.
Most users of the public transport have a Travel Card (Matkakortti/Resekort), an RFID card used as an electronic ticket. Users can load period (kausi/period) and value (arvo/värde) on their cards. Period ticket offers unlimited travel for the dates paid for. Value is used to pay for one trip, which may contain changes. The price of a single trip is lower when paid with the travel card instead of buying a single fare ticket.
Internal single trip tickets are valid for one hour (for the eastern and north eastern feeder lines 80 minutes). For regional tickets the transfer time is 80 minutes.
The transport system uses the proof-of-payment approach for fare collection for the metro, local trains, trams and ferries. In the buses the driver checks the tickets as passenger step in. Ticket controllers check tickets on randomly selected vehicles and a penalty fee of 80 EUR and a price of a single ticket is charged from any passenger without a valid ticket.[2] If a passenger has forgotten his/her Travel Card with valid travel period, the passenger may later visit a service point of the transport company and will not have to pay the penalty fee.
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