Metro

With the completion of the second phase of the West Metro, Espoo now has five new metro stations. Passenger transport along the new extension from Matinkylä to Kivenlahti started on 3 December 2022.

Once the second phase of the West Metro is finished, the metro will run up to Kivenlahti. The photo is from Matinkylä.

During the second phase of West Metro’s construction, a seven-kilometre-long rail line and five new stations were built: Finnoo, Kaitaa, Soukka, Espoonlahti and Kivenlahti. An underground metro depot was built in Sammalvuori. The metro will also travel underground in the second phase, in two parallel tunnels. More information about the construction of the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section on the West Metro website.(external link, opens in a new window)

The maps of the new stations can be found on HSL's website(external link, opens in a new window).

In addition to the stations, a total of seven shafts were built. These are designed for pressure equalisation, ventilation and smoke venting. The shafts will also function as emergency exits. Read more about the shafts on the West Metro website.(external link, opens in a new window)

The construction phase ended at all five stations and on the rails on May 2022.  The construction during the second phase also involved 30 side projects. The construction phase took place in 2019–2021, and the deployment phase, including test runs and other testing, took place in 2022–2023. The progress of the construction and testing were monitored in the Big Room of the West Metro project.

The construction project ended when all five stations and the rail infrastructure with its systems were handed over at the same time to Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd(external link, opens in a new window), which is operating the line. HSL(external link, opens in a new window), Helsinki Regional Transport Authority, decided when the line from Matinkylä to Kivenlahti can start operating. The bus lines and connection lines in southern Espoo will also changed when the metro started operating. HSL decided on the new bus routes in Espoo in May 2021. More information about the changes to bus routes in southern Espoo.(external link, opens in a new window)

Metro train operations from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä started in November 2017

The passenger transport along the West Metro’s first phase, from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä, started on 18 November 2017. The stations on the 14-kilometre-long stretch of rails span Lauttasaari and Koivusaari in Helsinki, and Keilaniemi, Otaniemi, Aalto University, Tapiola, Sports Park, Niittykumpu and Matinkylä in Espoo.

The metro operates on two lines

The metro operates on two lines, one from Kivenlahti to Vuosaari and the other from Tapiola to Mellunmäki. Every other eastbound train runs to Mellunmäki and every other to Vuosaari. In the daytime, every other westbound train turns around in Tapiola and every other continues on to Kivenlahti.

Trains on the two metro lines run at 6-minute intervals during the morning and afternoon rush hours, which means that a train stops at the stations between Tapiola and Itäkeskus every 3 minutes and between Tapiola and Kivenlahti every 6 minutes.

In the middle of the day and on Saturdays, the metro runs to Kivenlahti at 7.5-minute intervals and on Sundays at 10-minute intervals.

In the evening, between 20:30 and 23:30, and on Saturday mornings, all the trains run to Kivenlahti. At these times, the metro runs at 15-minute intervals, but because both lines run all the way to Kivenlahti, a train stops between Kivenlahti and Itäkeskus every 7.5 minutes.

Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd(external link, opens in a new window) is in charge of the metro traffic and also responsible for the maintenance of the stations and rails. HSL, Helsinki Region Transport(external link, opens in a new window), purchases and plans public transport in its area. The purpose of Länsimetro Oy is to construct, own, develop and maintain the West Metro system, rails and stations west of Ruoholahti. The project investments and development are done via Länsimetro Oy.  Organisation and decision-making ¦ West Metro (lansimetro.fi)(external link, opens in a new window)

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