At a meeting on Monday evening, Vantaa city councillors voted in favour of a revised plan for building a tram line in the city.
The decision however was far from unanimous, passing by 44 votes to 23, with many councillors expressing their opposition to the plans.
The council previously approved the project in 2023, but a new vote was necessary after a cost estimate, released last month, predicted the project would set the city back by more than one hundred million euros than initially budgeted.
The original estimates set the cost at 647 million euros, with Vantaa’s share being 448 million euros. However, the new figures suggest the final cost will climb to some 750 million euros, with Vantaa’s share now rising to 541 million euros.
A second source of dissatisfaction with the project is the fact that the tram’s final stop does not quite reach Helsinki Airport, instead terminating at Aviapolis.
Preparatory construction on the line began earlier this year.
Councillors debated the plans for a period of five hours on Monday afternoon and into the evening, before a vote was held just after 7:30pm.
The vote in favour had been expected, but the length of the debate showed the depth of the divisions within the council over the issue.
The project has been supported by almost all SDP, Green Party and Left Alliance council members as well as about half of the National Coalition Party members.
However, councillors represeting the Finns Party, Christian Democrats, Centre Party, and some National Coalition Party members were opposed.
The decision means that Vantaa will become the fourth city in the country to have a tram line or network, after Helsinki, Espoo and Tampere.
