The transport system of Finland is well-developed. Factors affecting traffic include the sparse population and long distance between towns and cities, and the cold climate with waterways freezing and land covered in snow for winter.
The Finnish railway network consists of a total track length of 9,216 km (5,727 mi). The railways are built with a broad 1,524 mm track gauge, of which 3,249 km (2,019 mi) is electrified. Passenger trains are operated by the state-owned enterprise VR that runs services on 7,225 km (4,489 mi) of track. These services cover all major cities and many rural areas, though the coverage is less than the coverage provided by the bus services. Most passenger train services originate or terminate at Helsinki Central railway station, and a large proportion of the passenger rail network radiates out of Helsinki. VR also operates freight services. Maintenance and construction of the railway network itself is the responsibility of the Finnish Rail Administration, which is a part of the Finnish Transport Agency. The network consists of six areal centres, that manage the use and maintenance of the routes in co-operation. Cargo yards and large stations may have their own signalling systems.
Public transport in Helsinki consists of bus, tram, metro, local railway and ferry services. The system is managed by the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority and covers Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen, Vantaa and the outlying Kerava, Kirkkonummi, Sipoo and Tuusula.
Europe has an extensive number of tramway networks. Some of these networks have been upgraded to light rail standards, called Stadtbahn in Germany, premetros in Belgium, sneltram in the Netherlands, trem ligeiro in Portugal and fast trams in some other countries.
Huopalahti railway station is a railway station on the VR commuter rail network located in northern Helsinki, Finland. It is located about 6 kilometres (4 mi) to the north/northwest of Helsinki Central railway station.
Tampere Central Station is a functionalist building in Tampere, Finland, designed by Eero Seppälä and Otto Flodin, completed in 1936. The station is one of the most important railway stations in Finland. In 2015, the Tampere Central Station was the second busiest railway station in Finland in terms of numbers of passengers, after the Helsinki Central Station.
Hämeenkatu is the main street of Tampere, Finland, located in the city center. The boulevard is roughly a kilometre long, and 28.5 metres (94 ft) wide at its widest point.
Although Finland has no dedicated high-speed rail lines, sections of its rail network are capable of running speeds of 200 km/h (124 mph). The Finnish national railway company VR operates tilting Alstom Pendolino trains. The trains reach their maximum speed of 220 km/h (137 mph) in regular operation on a 75.7 km (47.0 mi) route between Kerava and Lahti. This portion of track was opened in 2006. The trains can run at 200 km/h (124 mph) on a longer route between Helsinki and Seinäjoki and peak at that speed between Helsinki and Turku. The main railway line between Helsinki and Oulu has been upgraded between Seinäjoki and Oulu to allow for trains to run at speeds between 160 km/h (99 mph) and 200 km/h (124 mph). Other parts of the Finnish railway network are limited to lower speed.
The Turku tramway network was the first—and until the 2021 opening of Tampere Light Rail, second to last—tram system to be operated in Finland. It was operated as horse tramway from 1890 until 1892, and as an electrified tramway from 1908 until 1972. Prior to 1919 the tram system was owned by private interests, and from that year onwards by the City of Turku until closure of the system.
The Tampere light rail, branded as Tampere Tram, is a public transport system in Tampere, Finland. In November 2016, the Tampere city council approved plans to construct a 330-million-euro light rail system on the route from the city centre to Hervanta and to the Tampere University Hospital. Traffic on the first two lines of the route began on 9 August 2021.
Artic, styled as ARTIC or ForCity Smart, is an articulated low-floor tram model designed and manufactured by Škoda Transtech Oy in Finland. Trams of the design are in operation in Finland, Germany and Czechia, with further large orders in these countries. The design was subsequently rebranded under the Škoda ForCity brand.
Until 2021, Helsinki was Finland's only remaining city with tram traffic. Two other cities—Turku (see Turku tram) and Vyborg —have had tram systems. Vyborg abandoned its trams in 1957 after it was ceded to the Soviet Union after the end of World War II. Turku withdrew its trams in 1972.
The city of Helsinki and the neighbouring city of Vantaa have plans for a radical expansion of the Helsinki tram network within the 2020s and 2030s that would more than double the length of the network from 2021. If completed, the plans would both extend the current tram lines and build new light rail lines.
The Tampere–Pori railway is a railway running between the cities of Tampere and Pori in Finland. The line carries passenger traffic from Tampere to Pori via five railway stations and continues as a freight line to the Port of Pori. Tampere–Pori railway was opened in 1895 and the line follows the river Kokemäenjoki.
Esa Erkki Piironen is a Finnish architect. He studied architecture at Helsinki University of Technology, qualifying as an architect in 1970. He studied architecture and urban design in North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was awarded the Master of Architecture in 1972. He was working as a teaching assistant at Helsinki University of Technology 1972–81, and was awarded Licentiate in Technology in 1978. Visiting professor at Guangdong University of Technology School of Art and Design starting from 2012.
Helsinki light rail line 15 is a 25-kilometre (16 mi) light rail line connecting Keilaniemi in Espoo and Itäkeskus in Helsinki, Finland. Known during construction as Jokeri light rail, construction was started in June 2019 and the line began operating in October 2023, about 10 months ahead of the original schedule. The line replaced the trunk bus line 550, the busiest bus service on the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority public transport network, at the end of 2023.
The Helsinki–Turku high-speed railway or Espoo–Salo-oikorata, also formerly known as the ELSA-rata (Espoo-Lohja-Salo), is a proposed railway line in the planning stage to provide a more direct connection between Helsinki and Turku, Finland than the current Rantarata railway line which follows the southern coast. The project is also known as Turun tunnin juna, despite the fact that a journey between Helsinki and Turku on the new line would last about one hour and 18 minutes.
Särkänniemi is a district of the city centre of Tampere, Finland, located on the shores of Lake Näsijärvi, north of the districts of Amuri and Finlayson. The most famous sights of the district are Näsinneula and Särkänniemi Amusement Park, but in addition to that, the district also houses the Haarla's old paper mill building. The Amuri railway stop has also ceased operations in Särkänniemi. The Särkänniemi district also includes the Siilinkari islet in Lake Näsijärvi. Särkänniemi is bordered on the south by Paasikivenkatu, on the other side of which is the Amuri district, and on the west by the Santalahti district. The district includes the Onkiniemi residential area.
Transport in Tampere consists of car, bus, light rail and commuter rail services linking the city centre of Tampere, Finland, to surrounding residential areas and towns in the Pirkanmaa region. The system is managed by the Tampere Regional Transport Authority, branded as Nysse. The name originates from a local colloquialism nysse tulee, with nysse jokingly used to refer to any public transport vehicle.
