Helsinki’s busiest metro station is set to close again for months due to renovation work, Helsingin Sanomat reports.
The decision has caused confusion because it has been only a short time since the station was last renovated. Rautatientori, the metro station at Helsinki Central Railway Station, was closed for the entire summer two years ago.
The next closure will begin in October 2027, when the station will shut for six months while its escalators are replaced. Metro trains will pass through without stopping.
The repeated closures have prompted questions over how the projects were planned.
According to an investigation by Helsingin Sanomat, poor coordination between renovation projects lies at the heart of the problem.
Helsinki Regional Transport Authority HSL initially recommended that the Rautatientori works should not take place at the same time as the renovation of the Junatie metro bridge in 2027. However, no detailed modelling of passenger numbers was carried out to support the recommendation.
When the effects were later studied more closely, HSL reversed its position and concluded that carrying out the projects simultaneously would in fact have been preferable.
By then, however, the decision came too late because new escalators could no longer have been ordered in time.
Deputy Mayor Paavo Arhinmäki of the Left Alliance questioned in the Helsinki City Council how HSL could first recommend separating the projects and later reach the opposite conclusion.
Metro services to eastern Helsinki will be disrupted
The Rautatientori renovation is not the only major project set to disrupt public transport in the coming years.
The replacement of the Junatie metro bridge will interrupt metro traffic towards eastern Helsinki in 2027, forcing passengers to use replacement services.
Major changes have also affected western Helsinki this year, where street works and tram projects have altered public transport routes.
HSL regularly receives criticism from passengers, particularly over ticket prices and the difficulty of using its services. Its mobile application has also attracted frequent criticism.
Some passengers feel that recent reforms have made public transport more difficult to use than before.
According to Helsingin Sanomat, satisfaction with customer service and ticket prices is lower in Helsinki than elsewhere in the HSL region. A declining share of passengers also feel that they receive value for money or that their views are being heard.
City politicians say HSL ignores other views
HSL is also facing criticism from political decision-makers.
Several Helsinki politicians interviewed by Helsingin Sanomat said the authority has failed to listen sufficiently to the city’s views.
They cited decisions involving the colour scheme of trams, the relocation of a customer service point to the Tripla shopping centre and HSL’s cooperation with delivery platform Wolt.
HSL’s Director of Customer Experience Mari Flink acknowledged that the authority had shortcomings in its communications concerning the Rautatientori renovation, tram colours and the Wolt partnership.
She nevertheless said that HSL’s core operations continue to function well.