Metro service at Helsinki Central Station will stop next summer. The outage worries and frustrates passengers.
“Yes this makes it difficult to move. We are old and sick and have to carry bags from one place to another,” gasps the retired Esko Miettinen while waiting for his son to arrive by subway in Asematunnel.
Like Miettinen, many other public transport users in the capital region will have to rethink their movement next summer when the metro line is cut off in the middle.
Namely, the metro station of Helsinki's main railway station will be closed From June 3 due to renovation to improve fire safety. The station is scheduled to reopen at the beginning of September.
In summer, the metro only runs west of Kampi and east of the University of Helsinki.
Metro line the disconnection aroused annoyance and surprise in the passengers interviewed by HS. For some, the change will have little effect on their own movement, for others, journeys will be slowed down by tens of minutes.
Retired Esko Mietti is saddened that the familiar routes are changing.
Miettinen, who lives in Pitäjänmäki with his wife, is devastated by the closure of the metro station.
Miettinen usually takes a bus from Pitäjänmäki to Sähkötalo and, if necessary, continues the journey by e.g. subway or bus.
“When running errands, we sometimes use this train station metro station. We also take the metro from Kampi to Itäkeskus, where there are bigger clothing stores,” he says.
“Yes, it makes the trip more difficult when you have to go to a different place,” Miettinen reflects.
He says that public transport seems to be constantly changing and that makes it difficult to move around.
“We should ask citizens if familiar routes are changed. Nowadays, you have to change from one vehicle to another all the time,” he describes.
To yoga class the one on the way Iina Puskala, 28, doesn't know what to say at first. He hears about the closing of the subway station for the first time only during an interview.
“Interesting, how does it travel? And how can I get to school”, he wonders aloud.
Puskala normally takes the train from Järvenpää to the train station and changes directly to the subway, which he uses to get to his school in Myllypuro.
Walking from the train to the University of Helsinki metro station stretches the already long journey to school by at least ten minutes.
“There may still be school at the beginning of June. The fall semester already starts in August, so this will have time to make an impact,” he says.
Iina Puskala, 28, has to rethink her school trip due to the renovation of the metro station.
Fortunately some passengers can do just fine even without the subway. 16-year-old Ahmed Mohamed thinks that the closing of the metro station will not affect his movement.
“I travel a lot with my father by car. I can also go where I need to go by bus,” he says.
Mohamed rarely uses the subway, and he can easily replace those trips by bus.
“Pretty surprising news, yes. I hadn't heard of this,” Mohamed wonders.
Ahmed Mohamed, 16, usually travels by bus or with his father.
Hugo Halo, 21, and Oona Tammisto, 23, have already thought about how they will make their commutes next summer, when the metro does not run through the city center.
Otherwise is Oona Tammiston23, and Hugo Halo, 21, put. They have already had time to think about options for next summer's movement.
“We live in Itäkeskus and I have work in Kampi. In the future, the distance between the university and Kamppi will have to be traveled in some other way,” Tammisto reflects.
Hello on the other hand, he goes to work from Itäkeskus to Espoo, so the closure also affects his everyday life. One option would be to travel the distance between the University of Helsinki and Kamppi on foot or by trolley, the two ponder.
Halo has also considered making more trips to work by trolley.
“It's not so bad for us when we don't have a stroller, for example,” Halo reflects.
“And there are no mobility restrictions,” adds Tammisto.
Change will probably cause congestion at the Kamppi and University of Helsinki metro stations and affect many people's daily lives, they reasoned.
“Hopefully, the public services will stay on schedule and the renovation will be completed on time. It doesn't hurt to walk in the summe
r, but if this lasts into the fall, it wouldn't be nice.” Hello
“After all, this is impractical, but it won't work,” Tammisto sums up.
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