Herrala railway station

The Herrala railway station (Finnish: Herralan rautatieasema, Swedish: Herrala järnvägsstation) is located in Hollola, Finland, in the village and urban area of Herrala. It is located along the Riihimäki–Lahti line, and its neighboring stations are Järvelä in the west and Lahti in the east.

Herrala
VR station
General information
LocationRatatie 33, 16500
Herrala, Hollola
Finland
Coordinates60°53′45″N 025°28′22″E
Owned byFinnish Transport Infrastructure Agency
Operated byVR Group
Line(s)Riihimäki–Lahti railway
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Other information
Station codeHr
ClassificationHalt [1]
History
Opened1 November 1869 (1869-11-01)
Passengers
20082,000 [2]
Services
Preceding station Helsinki commuter rail Helsinki commuter rail Following station
Järvelä
towards Riihimäki
 G Lahti
Terminus
Location

History
A Tr2-pulled train in Herrala in 1946-1953

Herrala is the one of the original intermediate stations of the Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway, and was opened for passenger traffic in November 1869. The station was placed in the crossroads between the railway and the road from Hollola to Mäntsälä and Orimattila. The station played a role in the development of Herrala, and the village became home to various industries, including three brick factories, the last of which closed down in 1976. A sawmill was also founded; its activities ceased following a destructive fire in May 2017.[3][4]

Sometime in the 1970-80s, the main road of the village (currently named Herralantie and designated as regional road 2954) was realigned and its level crossing was replaced with an underpass.[5] In 2005, its platforms were rebuilt and moved closer towards Riihimäki, which made it possible to replace the former cross-platform pedestrian level crossing with the Herralantie underpass.[4]

Herrala has slowly lost its significance as an urban center, partly due to the development in the municipality of Hollola being focused in the seat of Salpakangas. Freight transport at the station was ceased in 1990 and its railyard was disassembled in 1997, making it a halt.[4]

Architecture

The original station building in Herrala was built according to stock plans for class IV stations on the Riihimäki–St. Petersburg line, designed by Knut Nylander.[lower-alpha 1] The station was expanded first in 1880, and again in 1897 with an additional western wing designed by Bruno Granholm. As per a railyard diagram dating to 1873, the premises of the station also included a warehouse, a roundhouse at the northern end of the railyard, two workshops and a workers' residence, among other miscellaneous buildings,[6] all of which have been demolished since.[5]

The first station building was demolished and replaced with a new one in 1953. The second station was built approximately 200 metres (660 ft) to the east of the first,[5] and is distinctive in that while most of the stations of the era were built out of wood and with simple architectural principles, Herrala was given an elaborate centrally heated two-level brick building.[4] An electrically controlled signal box was constructed into the station building in 1995.[7]

Services
Main article: Helsinki commuter rail § Riihimäki−Lahti Line

Herrala is an intermediate station on commuter rail line G on the route Riihimäki–Lahti. Westbound trains towards Riihimäki stop at track 1 and eastbound ones towards Lahti use track 2. Prior to the opening of the Kerava-Lahti railway line, Herrala was also served by the unnamed regional trains on the route Helsinki–Riihimäki–Lahti–Kouvola–Kotka Harbour.

Notes
  1. The other stations constructed as such on the line, listed in order from Riihimäki to St. Petersburg–Finlyandsky, include Hikiä, Lappila, Vesijärvi, Kausala, Kymi (Koria), Taavetti, Säiniö (Verkhne-Cherkasovo), Galitzina (Leypyasuo) and Terijoki (Zelenogorsk).[6]

References
  1. Railway Network Statement 2021 (PDF). Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. 18 June 2020. p. 93. ISBN 978-952-317-744-4. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  2. Henkilöliikennepaikkojen kehittämisohjelma (PDF). Helsinki: Finnish Infrastructure Transport Agency. 2010. ISBN 978-952-255-511-3.
  3. Yle.fi: 114-vuotiaan sahan tuotanto katkesi tuhoisaan tulipaloon – "Ne ovat nyt kaikki mennyttä, savuna ilmaan"
  4. Iltanen, Jussi. Radan varrella: Suomen rautatieliikennepaikat (in Finnish). ISBN 978-951-593-214-3.
  5. Tuloisela, Katariina; Salmi, Eeva-Liisa (12 November 2014). "Junapysäkin seutua koskeva asemakaava ja asemakaavan muutos" (PDF) (in Finnish). Municipality of Hollola. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  6. Roivanen, Antti. "Pietarin radan ensimmäiset liikennepaikat". Resiina (in Finnish). Suomen rautatiehistoriallinen seura & Museorautatieyhdistys. 3/2020. ISSN 0356-0600.
  7. "Rautatierakennusten piirustusarkisto: Herrala". digi.narc.fi (in Finnish). The National Archives of Finland. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
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