Helsinki City Rail Loop

The Helsinki City Rail Loop (Finnish: Pisararata literally translated: droplet railway, Swedish: Centrumslingan) is a planned new railway line in Helsinki, Southern Finland. It is to be a double track balloon loop in the shape of a tear drop. Helsinki commuter rail currently terminating at Helsinki Central railway station would be diverted into tunnels under the city centre. New underground stations would be created in Töölö (west), Helsinki city centre (south; likely to be located directly under Forum shopping centre) and Hakaniemi metro station (east), with a possible fourth station at Alppila (north) depending on how the connection to the main line is made in relation to the existing northern Pasila railway station.[1] The new tracks will be 7 kilometres (4 mi) long.[2]

Helsinki commuter trains would arrive under the city centre in tunnel, loop around, and return north again without terminating or reversing
Helsinki City Rail Loop
Helsinki commuter rail
 Pasila railway station
Alppila
(alternatives 2 & 3)
New tunnel portals
(alternative 1)
Helsinki Metro
 Hakaniemi metro station
 Töölö
 University of Helsinki metro station
 Helsinki Central railway station
 Rautatientori metro station
 City Centre

The target is to free up capacity at Helsinki Central railway station to allow for expansion of long-distance trains; the existing capacity between Pasila and Helsinki has been all used up with the opening of the Ring Rail Line in 2014.[3] Detailed planning took place during 2012–2015, resulting in the project being shelved in February 2015.[4] The project was initially expected to cost €956 million if completed by the 2020s.[5] For the planning stages, €40 million was allocated.[6] By 2019 the expected cost of the original plan had risen to €1.5 billion.[7]

In June 2022, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (FTIA) published a report stating that the City Rail Loop is not necessary, and suggested alternatives such as renewal of commuter train fleets and improved railway signalling. Individual changes in gear and geometry are also needed in the railway area of the Central railway station and Pasila.[8] However, the study has looked at a situation in which the City Rail Loop, Lentorata, the new direct line between Riihimäki and Tampere and the Helsinki–Turku high-speed railway would have been implemented.[9]

See also

References
  1. "City Rail Loop (Pisara-rata)". Finnish Transport Agency. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  2. "Kari Ruohonen". The Future of AirRail. also be linked to the City Rail Loop, a 7-km long underground railway line running under the Helsinki city centre. The railway design will begin in 2012 and a decision about its implementation can be made in 2014.
  3. "Future projects". Pääkaupunkiseudun Junakalusto. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  4. "Cabinet cancels Helsinki rail loop plan". YLE News. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  5. "Pisararata". Liikennevirasto. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  6. "City Rail Loop general plan approved". City of Helsinki. 16 March 2012. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  7. ""Antti Rinteen suunnitelma tulisi liian kalliiksi veronmaksajille" – Tiilikainen: Pisararata vanheni, tehdään Lentorata keskustaan asti". Uusi Suomi. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  8. "Helsinki–Pasila kapasiteettiselvitys" (PDF). Vayla. June 2022.
  9. Valtanen, Tero (17 June 2022). "Yllätyskäänne: Helsingin alle suunniteltua jättimäistä junatunnelia "Pisararataa" ei välttämättä tarvitakaan". Yle. Retrieved 3 August 2022.

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