HS Turku | There will be no train from Helsinki to Turku for almost two years – Passengers will be left in Kupitta, which is suffering from a lack of parking spaces

In August Friday morning Risto Korpinen is getting on the commuter train for the last time at Turku Central Station. He says that he is moving to Helsinki for work.

From next Monday, no one else will get on the Helsinki train at Turku Central Station, at least for two years. In Turku, a major renovation of the railway yard will begin, during which the railway connection between the center of Turku and Kupitta will be closed. At the same time, the connection of the Helsinki train to the port of Turku will also be cut off.

As of Monday, due to track works, the journey from Turku to Salo will be made by bus, but from Tuesday, Helsinki trains will depart and stop at Kupitta station.

The arrangement has caused concern, especially among commuters. Korpinen also says that he has thought about it. For him, the main reasons for leaving Turku were a job transfer within the capital region and his spouse’s work situation. But the future renovation of the railway yard also played its part.

“It wasn’t a big factor, but it still influenced the decision,” he admits.

“Until now, I have lived in Puolalanpuisto, which is a seven-minute walk to the station. In the future, you should go to the other side of the city. And two years is quite a long time, after all.”

Turku city ​​councilor and chairman of the urban public transport board Janika Takatalo (kok) actively commutes between Turku and Helsinki.

Takatalo and his family recently moved near Turku’s main train station. One of the reasons for choosing the place to live was the short distance to the train station, as the adults in the family use the train connection to Helsinki regularly.

“In the future, we should go to Kupitta in the mornings, so we will probably choose a bus or an alternative other than the train,” Takatalo reflects.

Takatalo is worried about whether cutting off the connection will increase private driving. In addition, it can affect the attractiveness of Turku as a place to live.

“Many students would like to stay in Turku, even if the jobs in the field are in the capital region. However, this could break the camel’s back if the trip to Helsinki becomes even more difficult.”

Takatalo says that he knows people who wonder if they can stay in Turku because of weak connections.

“At worst, we lose taxpayers working in Helsinki, who are often also well-paid.”

VR organizes There is a bus transport from Kupitta station to the port, which can be accessed directly with a train ticket. However, the VR bus does not go through the city center or the main train station, but takes the most direct route to the port.

According to Takatalo, Föli has prepared to increase the number of bus lines 32 and 42 running between Kupitta and the main train station.

However, the train ticket has nothing to do with Föl’s buses. Takatalo says that there were discussions about a joint ticket, where VR would have bought from Föli the option to add a bus ticket to the train ticket. However, the matter remained only at the level of speeches due to costs and technical challenges.

Actually At Kupitta, you can’t talk about the actual position. Apart from the ticket machine, there have been no actual station functions there for years. Risto Korpinen says that he has thought about, for example, how waiting for the train goes in winter frosts. The interior spaces are very limited.

“Perhaps there will also be difficulties in finding parking spaces,” he predicts.

Many fellow travelers have thought about the same thing. At the station platform in the morning, the concern is especially where to get your own car on Kupitta, which is known to be congested. According to rumors, some commuters have even considered driving their car to Salo, where there is plenty of parking space next to the train station.

VR service manager Markku Sammal says that there are no plans to increase the services of Kupitta station. According to Sammale, the intention is to divert car traffic away from the station. The drop-off point for escort traffic is on Joukahaisenkatu. Parking can be found in the Itäharju industrial area on Teollisuuskatu.

According to Sammale, the company does not believe that cutting off the rail connection will have a major impact on passenger numbers.

The Finnish Railways Agency project manager Erkki Mäkelän According to

“And the trains ran next to the construction site. It is not desirable in terms of work or train safety,” adds Mäkelä.

Mäkelä says that by cutting the traffic to Kupittaa, five million euros will be saved.

The cut-off also ensures that the project remains on schedule. According to Mäkelä, for the entire project, “tricks” have to be done in order to stick to the original schedule.

However, he assures that the double track is ready and train traffic will run to the main station again “in about two years”.

“Certainly before the end of 2024.”

Railway yard the renovation is related both to the preparations for the Turku hourly train and to the new experience center planned next to the Turku railway yard. A double track will be built between the main railway station and Kupitta.

The need for an hourly train has been debated recently in HS opinion pieces.

Read more: The need for new rail infrastructure needs to be reassessed

Read more: Shortening travel time is only a small part of the meaning of Turku’s hourly train

Read more: The bottom has fallen from the Turku hour and a quarter train

Read more: Kasvu-Suomi needs attractive rail connections

The budget for the Turku–Kupittaa railway project is a hefty 67.5 million euros. The most money is spent on new railway bridges, of which at least four are being built. Among other things, the current railway bridge crossing the Aurajoki will be dismantled and rebuilt.

Read more: The budget for the second Turku bridge is already swelling – the costs of the new pedestrian and cycling bridge over the Aurajoki rose to over seven million euros

Mäkelä admits that the project’s cost estimate is higher than the current budget due to rising prices, but no decision has been made to increase the budget.

Although cutting off traffic to Kupitta has sparked discussion, according to Mäkelä, there has also been positive feedback.

“People understand that if they want a good end result, it requires sacrifices from the users of train traffic.”

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