Subway closure|HSL urged those heading east by metro to prefer the Hakaniemi metro station instead of the University of Helsinki station.
Helsinki the university metro station was badly congested on Tuesday afternoon.
Around half past five, there was chaos there, says a representative of Helsingin Sanomat who happened to be there Olli-Pekka Paajanen.
According to Paajanen, there was a queue tens of meters long for the escalator and there were security guards directing people.
One of the guards instructed a busy passenger not to pass on the escalator, because otherwise “the whole thing is boring”, Paajanen said.
Helsinki regional transport (HSL) communications officer on duty Sari Kotikangas said that HSL is aware of the congestion. The situation on Tuesday was so bad that HSL urged people to prefer the Hakaniemi metro station if possible.
The recommendation was valid until 7 p.m. The estimate is based on the end time of commuting.
It was already clear on Monday that the escalators cause a bottleneck. In Finland, on subway escalators, you typically only stand on the right side of the escalator, even if two people can fit on the escalator step side by side.
However, the escalator would not necessarily support the weight. On Tuesday, the mass of people also caused problems for the escalators.
“The University of Helsinki has one steep escalator that has stopped. Apparently, the reason has been that there has been that much more human load,” Kotikangas said.
At the University of Helsinki, the queue for the metro continued from half past five in the afternoon on Tuesday almost to Kluuvi.
Peak had eased by about seven in the evening. However, the second elevator to the subways was not in use, so instead of a line of escalators, a line of elevators formed at the station.
The congestion is due to the renovation of the Rautatientori metro station that started on June 3. During the renovation, metro traffic has been cut in half. Those heading east on the metro can start their journey from the University of Helsinki stop, and those heading west can start their journey from Kamppi.
These two stops had big traffic jams on Monday as all passengers tried to exit and enter from the same stop.
HSL has added lines to replace the metro. However, it came as a surprise that on Tuesday, line 8x, which replaces tram 8, was overcrowded.
“Many have figured out that the line can take you, for example, from Kalasatama to Ruoholahti. The line was really full on Tuesday,” Kotikangas explained.
Cyclists and those traveling with baby carriages queued for the elevator around 7pm on Tuesday. The worst traffic jam eased by evening.
The news is updated.
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