Ring Rail Line

Ring Rail Line
Vantaankoski railway station, the present end of the line, which will be extended by the Ring Rail Line.
Overview
Status	Under construction
Locale	Greater Helsinki, Southern Finland
Termini	Vantaankoski Merges with Main line (local tracks) between Hiekkaharju and Koivukylä stations
Stations	4 (+4)
Operation
Opened	June 2014
Technical
Line length	18 km (11 mi)
No. of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,524 mm (5 ft)
Electrification	25 kV @ 50 Hz
Operating speed	120 km/h (75 mph)
Route map Legend ( Helsinki / Helsingfors ) Vantaankoski / Vandaforsen Overpass Kehä III Vehkala / Veckal (reservation) Petas (reservation) ( Klaukkala (planned) ) Underpass Valtatie 3 Kivistö Vantaanjoki Viinikkala / Vinikby (reservation) Aviapolis Airport (Lentoasema / Flygplatsen) Ruskeasanta / Rödsand (reservation) Leinelä / Lejle ( Riihimäki ) Hiekkaharju / Sandkulla Tikkurila / Dickursby ( Helsinki / Helsingfors )

The Ring Rail Line (Finnish: Kehärata previously Marjarata, Swedish: Ringbanan) is a railway route under construction in the area of the city of Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland. It will connect Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the adjacent Aviapolis business and retail district to the Helsinki commuter rail network. The line will fill a gap between the existing Vantaankoski railway station and Tikkurila railway stations, travelling in tunnels underneath the airport. The projected cost of the construction is €605 million as of March 2010.^[1]

The new line will thus create a quick connection from the airport to Helsinki Central railway station, as well as the suburban areas on the route. The new railway will leave the mainline going north from Helsinki after Tikkurila station in the east, travel via the airport and into Vantaankoski station to the west, joining the existing the branch line for western Vantaa which is currently served by the "M" train. Four new stations will be built, with space reserved for four more in the future.^[2] The journey time from the airport to Helsinki Central Railway Station will be about 30 minutes, whilst the time to Tikkurila, to connect with long-distance trains going north or east, will be about 8 minutes.^[3]

Present state

The founding stone of the line was laid on 3 March 2009,^[4] and construction was started on 13 May 2009 with the excavation of service tunnels. The excavation of a 300 m long tunnel station under the airport was completed in March 2010, as the construction was proceeding on schedule.^[1] The line is to open in mid-2014,^[5] however it is possible that an initial above-ground section from Vantaankoski to Kivistö will open earlier in 2012. A final decision on the possibility of the earlier opening has yet to be made, and will be assessed at a later date.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2011, a video on the project's official website stated that the project would be open by June 2014. It announced various new details, including that the station at Tikkurila would be entirely rebuilt as an integrated travel centre, as well as details on the trains that would serve the airport.^[6]

New stations

The four new stations on the line will be at Kivistö, Aviapolis, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and Leinelä. Four additional stations may be added in due course.

Future development

Separate proposals exists to extend the Helsinki Metro to the airport, and to move long-distance services from the current main North-South corridor to a new railway between Pasila and Kerava, passing through the airport. This new route would travel in a long tunnel under the airport and allow direct access from long-distance trains, as well as free the rail capacity taken up by long-distance traffic in the current main corridor for the increasing local commuter traffic.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Länsimetro

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Vantaan Kehärata-projekti etenee kuin juna". YLE Helsinki. 17 March 2010. http://yle.fi/alueet/helsinki/helsinki/2010/03/vantaan_keharata-projekti_etenee_kuin_juna_1537404.html. Retrieved 6 February 2011. 
2. ^ "Kehäradan reitti ja asemat". Kehärata. http://www.keharata.fi/?pageid=2&parent0=2. Retrieved 6 February 2011. 
3. ^ "Construction of the Ring Rail Line begins". Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. 27 April 2009. http://www.helsinki-vantaa.fi/more-information/news-archive/press-release/id=3860952/t=construction-of-the-ring-rail. Retrieved 6 February 2011. 
4. ^ "Laying of Ring Rail Linecornerstone in Vantaa today". Kehärata. 6 March 2009. http://www.keharata.fi/?pageid=10&parent0=4&newsid=5. Retrieved 6 February 2011. 
5. ^ "Helsinki–Vantaa Airport to eliminate division to domestic and international terminals". Helsingin Sanomat. 2009-04-27. http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Helsinki-Vantaa+Airport+to+eliminate+division+to+domestic+and+international+terminals/1135245497442. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 
6. ^ "Kehärata". http://www.keharata.fi/. Retrieved 6 February 2011. 

External links

• Kehärata official website
• Kehärata plans and diagrams