At a metro station that is more than 40 years old, many security systems have reached the end of their life.
Railway Square metro station fire safety is a thing of the past. Many of its safety systems have reached the end of the road, according to the Helsinki Rescue Service.
For this reason, the metro station will practically be closed for the whole of next summer. Metro trains don't even pass the station, but the western route stops at Kamppi and the eastern train route stops at Kaisaniemi.
Western Metro compared to the new stations, the busiest station of the old mainline metro is like from the past world from the point of view of rescue operations.
Helsinki fire chief Joonatan Suosalo characterizes the station completed in 1982 as a product of its time.
“We have been trained for rescue work at this station, the metro train drivers and the metro guard have been trained for this. The passengers are safe.”
For rescue operations there are places where the routes are quite narrow, the exits from the tunnel are not barrier-free and the spread of smoke gases cannot be controlled as effectively as in new stations.
One of the goals of the renovation is to prevent the spread of smoke gases to Kompassitori and nearby business premises. That is why smoke barrier walls are built both in the tunnel and on the station platforms.
“In the old metro network, the smoke extraction was thought of in such a way that it runs lengthwise along the tunnels. Länsimetro stations have vertical shafts at certain intervals for smoke extraction,” says Suosalo.
If people should be removed from the metro train stuck between two stations, passengers should first step off the train onto the wreath bench. In the Länsimetro tunnels, the platform of the exits runs at the level of the subway train floor.
“In practice, therefore, one of the key tasks of the rescue service in the case of a fire in the main metro is to support people's safe exit,” says Suosalo.
The exits from the tunnel are spiral stairs, which people with reduced mobility cannot even walk along.
Construction in the tunnel interrupts traffic in both directions, because the tracks in the mainline metro are mainly in one tunnel. There are two tunnels in the Länsimetro. Without the traffic stoppage, there would be only four hours a night for construction work in the tunnel.
Under renovation new smoke barrier walls will be made both in the driving tunnel and in the platform areas, which will be connected to the subway control room.
The entire sprinkler system will be renewed in such a way that the related plot water line will also be rebuilt.
Renewal of the sprinkler system on the platform and escalators must be done with the help of scaffolding. This work cannot be done with people walking on the platform area.
In the contract, the fire alarm system will also be expanded and all electronic telecommunication and security systems will be renewed.
“The overhaul has been planned in good agreement with the owner. The decision on the timing of the contract is theirs,” Suosalo clarifies.
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