EUR 300m projects to improve railway in south

The Finnish Transport Agency has undertaken a number of railway projects in southern Finland at a cost of 300 million euros to improve the traffic flow, said the agency in a press release.

The track works, however, would limit the speed which will cause delays in railway travel.

“Our current projects include improving the efficiency of Helsinki railway yard and the Helsinki-Riihimäki line section. We are also building the western additional track and a new station platform in Pasila, as well as renewing the safety devices on the line section Riihimäki-Tampere,” said Finnish Transport Agency Project Implementation Department Director Pekka Petäjäniemi.

The project to increase the efficiency of Helsinki railway yard (HELRA) aims at improving the operations of the railway yard and reducing its vulnerability to disruptions.

Currently, 74 trains per hour operate between Helsinki and Pasila at the rush hour. Upon completion of the HELRA project, the capacity will be increased to almost 90 trains per hour. This means an increase of 200 trains per day. The project will be completed in 2020 with a total cost of 60 million euro.

The project will affect traffic in the Helsinki metropolitan area this summer, as the outermost tracks on the Helsinki-Pasila line section will alternately be taken out of service due to the works in the Helsinki railway yard.

The Helsinki-Riihimäki project will be carried out in two phases. During the first phase, the freight transport to Vuosaari will be transferred to a separate track in Kerava. The project also includes building an additional track between Ainola and Purola, as well as renewing the functionality of Riihimäki passenger railway yard and at the same time elevating the platforms to meet the current requirements.

The project will also reduce the vulnerability to disruptions and achieve more flexible services and more punctual trains. In Järvenpää, passenger services will improve through the renewal of the station area, and town residents will obtain a new bus terminal for the feeder transport. The works to be carried out in the first phase of the project will cost 150 million euro, and the project will be completed in 2020.

The western additional track project comprises building a new track and a station platform in Pasila. The new 1.5-kilometre track section will significantly improve train traffic on the main line. The track project is being carried out on the same worksite as the new centre, Tripla, emerging in central Pasila. The construction work commenced in autumn 2015 with the piling of the bridges in connection to the Pasila Railway Station. The new track will be opened to traffic in 2019 and will be fully utilised in 2020. The total budget of the project is 40 million euro.

In the project Renewal of the Riihimäki–Tampere safety devices, the safety devices at the end of their life cycle will be totally renewed. This is done to reduce the vulnerability to disruptions and to ensure fast and safe transport.

“The works will be completed at the end of 2018, when the new safety devices will be taken into use. The most significant traffic disruptions will take place from mid-September to the week before Christmas”, said Project Manager JuhaLehtola.

The project area is 110 km. The total cost of the project is 59 million euro.