Jokeri light rail ( fi, Raide-Jokeri, sv, Spårjokern) is an under-construction light rail line which began construction in June 2019, which will serve the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

cities of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

and

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

. The line will replace the current bus line 550, the busiest bus service on the

Helsinki Regional Transport Authority The Helsinki Regional Transport Authority ( fi, Helsingin seudun liikenne, HSL; sv, Helsingforsregionens trafik, HRT) is the inter-municipal authority that maintains the public transportation network of the nine municipalities of Greater ...

public transport network.

Background

The "core bus line" 550, formerly branded ''Jokeri'' ("The Joker", after Joukkoliikenteen kehämäinen raideinvestointi – "A circular rail investment for public transportation"), will be converted to light rail. The city councils of

and Espoo approved the construction project in June 2016, after the state of Finland decided to participate in funding the construction. The rail line was preliminarily projected to open in 2021. The construction of the light rail line, without rolling stock or a depot, is projected to cost 274 million euros as of June 2016, with rolling stock and a depot projected to additionally cost up to 95 and 65 million euros. The 550 was originally conceived as a light rail line in 1990, but only realised as a bus line in 2003. The general plans to convert the congested bus line to light rail were first published in 2009, but the decision to begin construction was only taken in June 2016 after many delays. www.kaupunkiliikenne.net Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos www.raidejokeri.info The municipality of Espoo is planning the western terminus of the rail line at Keilaniemi instead of Tapiola. There will be a connection to the Metro at

Aalto University Aalto University ( fi, Aalto-yliopisto; sv, Aalto-universitetet) is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the ...

and Keilaniemi. The current 550 is a orbital bus line that runs roughly parallel to the innermost ring road around Helsinki (

Ring I Ring I (pronounced "ring one", fi, Kehä I, sv, Ring I) is the busiest road in Finland, carrying up to 113,000 vehicles per day. It is the innermost of the three beltways in the Greater Helsinki region, numbered as regional route 101 and ru ...

). The 550 runs from

Itäkeskus Itäkeskus ( sv, Östra centrum, literal translation ''East center'') is a '' quarter'' in the neighbourhood of Vartiokylä (as of the 1980s) in Helsinki, Finland. The district's main attraction is the largest covered-in shopping mall in the Nordi ...

in the East to

Tapiola Tapiola (; sv, ) is a district of the municipality of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo. It is located in the western part of Greater Helsinki. The name ''Tapiola'' is derived from '' Tapio'', w ...

in the West, connecting with the commuter rail network at

Oulunkylä Oulunkylä ( sv, Åggelby, also known as ''Ogeli'') is a suburb and a neighbourhood of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is located north from the center of the city. It has been inhabited since the 13th century. Earlier an independent munic ...

, Huopalahti,

Pitäjänmäki Pitäjänmäki () is a district located on the westernmost district of Helsinki, Finland, near the border with Espoo. There are many IT and machine manufacturing companies in the area, especially around the Valimo railway station. Such compani ...

and Leppävaara, and with the Metro in Itäkeskus and Tapiola. The 550 light rail line will be a very significant development for the Helsinki tram network. The route is located entirely outside the current network, surrounding it; the length of the route will be a large proportion of the total network, and the line is being planned to modern light rail standards (as opposed to the relatively old-fashioned street tram system). However, the new line will be technically compatible with the existing network (, low platforms, 600 V DC electrification). Direct integration with the

Helsinki Metro The Helsinki Metro ( fi, Helsingin metro, sv, Helsingfors metro) is a rapid transit system serving Greater Helsinki, Finland. It is the world's northernmost metro system. It was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of p ...

(broad gauge, high platforms, planned driverless operation) was briefly studied in 2003, but it was found to be highly impractical. Antero Alku

Construction

Construction on the line officially began on 6 June 2019.

References

External links

{{Tram systems in Finland Transport in Helsinki Tram transport in Finland Proposed railway lines in Finland Tram and light rail transit systems under construction Light rail in Finland 2024 in rail transport