Track work will interrupt train traffic between Turku and Helsinki for more than a month next summer.
Rail improvements by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency will result in a long disruption of train service between Helsinki and the southwestern cities of Turku, Karjaa and Hanko this summer. The five-week train stoppage begins just after the Midsummer holiday weekend.
The Rantarata ("coastal route") will be shut down from 24 June to 28 July. During that period, long-distance trains between Helsinki and Turku’s Kupittaa station and commuter trains on southerly Karjaa-Hanko route will be replaced by buses.
In Turku, the replacement buses will continue from Kupittaa to Turku's main railway station – which is closed for a major overhaul – as well as to the port of Turku to coincide with ferry timetables.
Turku’s main station is being relocated to the Logomo building, on the other side of the tracks from the old station. That project has been underway since mid-2022, with a potential completion date in December this year.
Weekend interruptions in Espoo, Kirkkonummi
During the traffic stoppage, blasting work will also be carried out as part of the Espoo Rail Line project. That is a joint project of Espoo, Kauniainen and the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency to build two new tracks between Leppävaara and Kauklahti in Espoo.
It is intended to boost the punctuality and efficiency of rail service from the capital region towards Kirkkonummi, Karjaa and Turku. The Transport Infrastructure Agency, which calls it "an important step towards emission-free transport," says it will be completed in 2028.
Due to this work, there will be interruptions in commuter train services between Helsinki and the western suburb of Kirkkonummi between May and September. There will be 24-hour breaks each Sunday in May and September, along with three 48-hour breaks over weekends in late August and September.
Espoo is also planning two new Metro branch lines. One would link Matinkylä with Espoo centre, while the other would connect the Metro’s current terminus in Kivenlahti to Kauklahti. These would link up with the Rantarata train line route, which connects the capital region with its outer western suburbs and eventually Turku on the southwest coast.
Meanwhile, the fate of a controversial, costly proposal for a "one-hour train" link between Helsinki and Turku via a new inland route remains uncertain.
