Upgrading of Helsinki’s rail yard will cause upheavals in local train services beginning after the Midsummer holiday.
Starting in late June, some local trains in the capital region will only go as far as the Pasila station rather than all the way to the Central Railway Station, Helsinki Regional Transport (HSL) announced on Tuesday.
Switching systems on four tracks will be replaced this summer. That will directly affect local trains K, N, I and P between 25 June and 16 July.
K trains will not run at all between Pasila and Helsinki, and the N train will not go between the two during the day. The two stations lie about four kilometres apart.
Airport trains limited
Only the I train will go all the way into Helsinki from the main airport in Vantaa, while only the P train will carry passengers from the capital to the airport.
Commuters heading into the city centre will find it easier to switch trains in Pasila, says HSL information officer Joona Packalén.
“Trains coming from the directions of Leppävaara [Espoo] and Vantaankoski [Vantaa] will run into Helsinki at two-and-a-half minute intervals during rush hour. Basically the problem will affect the stations between Kerava and Pasila, besides Tikkurila,” he tells Yle.
Night trains, other local trains and long-distance trains should run normally.
Work into August on some tracks
“The current switching and track systems can’t handle today’s traffic frequency so we have to upgrade them. As a result we’ll be able to run more trains and their reliability will improve,” Packalén promises.
The first phase of track work is to be wrapped up in mid-July, when repairs to two other tracks are to begin. From then on, there will be similar timetable changes affecting trains from the Leppävaara and Vantaankoski directions until early August – and similar interruptions are expected next summer as well.