The state has reached agreement with seven cities and municipalities on financing of the first phase of the West Railway between Helsinki and Turku.
The shareholders in West Railway Ltd (Länsirata Oy), the company that was set up in 2020 to build the country’s first entirely new rail line in a century, agreed on Friday evening to move ahead with the long-debated project.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP), a Turku native who has long lobbied for the project, hailed the decision in an interview with Yle on Saturday, predicting that the entire West Railway will be implemented.
"The agreement means that we will soon be able to launch the most significant single infrastructure investment in recent history," he commented.
Orpo said that the construction of the rail line will be a boost for the construction industry, which is in a slump.
"The West Railway will leverage significant private investments in housing and commercial construction. The project, launched during this government term, will bring large-scale construction, especially in southern Finland," said Orpo.
According to the premier, the implementation of the first phase of the railway will eventually lead to the construction of the entire line.
In the first phase, sections of the railway are to be built between Espoo, Vihti and Lohja as well as the Salo-Hajala and Nunna-Kupittaa segments.
The remaining sections, linking Lohja and Salo as well as Hajala and Nunna, will be left to the second phase.
Agreement still needs approval
The project will move into the construction phase if the municipal and state decision-making bodies approve the agreement negotiated on Friday.
According to Orpo, the government’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy will soon discuss the agreement and the necessary budget decisions.
The state is expected to contribute some 400 million euros to the first phase of the railway's construction – despite the government’s stringent austerity policy.
The overall cost is estimated at 3.4–4 billion euros. If completed in its entirety, it would save approximately 35-40 minutes' travel time between the capital and Turku.
According to a joint statement from the municipalities, the construction of the first phase of the West Railway could begin in late 2027.
However, Minister of Transport and Communications Lulu Ranne (Finns) – who has expressed scepticism about the project – tells Yle that 2028 is a more realistic timetable. Last spring, she and Orpo presented sharply differing views of the negotiation process.
The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (FANC) has criticised the West Railway plan, saying that any possible benefit in terms of lower transport emissions would be far outweighed by the destruction of valuable old-growth forest areas along the route.
