The bicycle garage, located in the Kaisantunneli pedestrian and cyclist tunnel, opens on Monday 1 July at noon. The bicycle garage can accommodate about 900 bicycles. The new Bike & Ride facility will significantly improve the supply and quality of bicycle services in the center of Helsinki.
The facility has been designed to accommodate the requirements of different types of bicycles. There are frame-locking bike racks on two levels, a bicycle washing and maintenance station, and a bicycle maintenance service provided by a private company.
In the pilot phase, users of the bicycle garage can charge their e-bike batteries free of charge. The cyclists need to have their own chargers.
The bicycle garage is open from Monday to Sunday 5am to 11pm for the time being. To get in, you need to show an HSL card to the reader at the garage door.
The garage is only for bicycles so, for example, e-scooters cannot be stored there. Because the garage is intended for Bike & Ride parking, bicycles can be stored there for up to 10 days at a time. The City of Helsinki parking control will take away bicycles stored in the garage for too long.
The Kaisantunneli tunnel runs underneath the Central Railway Station’s rail yard. The Central Railway Station is one of the busiest public transport hubs in Finland.
The bicycle garage provides a safe and easy-to-use indoor bicycle parking facility near the railway station.
The bicycle garage is managed by Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd.
Bicycle garage services are developed in stages
The Kaisantunneli bicycle garage is a pilot project. HSL and Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd will develop the services provided in the garage in stages. The aim is to develop solutions that can be duplicated in other Bike & Ride facilities in the future.
In the autumn, registration as a user will become mandatory and users must link their HSL card to their customer account. After registration, the HSL card will serve as a key to the garage. Registration will improve the safety of the parking facility. Later, it will be possible to access the bicycle garage using the HSL app.
HSL and Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd will monitor the use of the bicycle garage and customer feedback from users.
Service designed with customers' wishes in mind
In spring 2023 Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd surveyed cyclists’ needs in order to finalize the service concept and design of the bicycle garage. More than 400 cyclists responded to the survey.
In addition to bicycle parking, the respondents hoped for bicycle maintenance, a bicycle washing station, security guarding, and a refill point for drinking water. In the open-ended comments, the respondents voiced concern about the safety of the bicycle parking.
The safety of the bicycle garage is ensured by a range of measures. These include camera surveillance, security guarding, and HSL's access control solution, which will be based on user registration.
Development of Bike & Ride facilities in Helsinki
The Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd is responsible for the development and maintenance of Park & Ride and Bike & Ride facilities in Helsinki, together with its partners.
Most residents of Helsinki live within a few kilometers of a train or metro station. There are Bike & Ride parking facilities at the stations, where you can leave your bicycle and continue your journey conveniently by public transport. Significant investments have been made in the development of Bike & Ride facilities at Helsinki rail stations in recent years.
In 2023, Bike & Ride services were improved at Ruoholahti, Siilitie and Vuosaari Metro Stations, and Kannelmäki, Käpylä and Tapanila train stations.
In the coming years, the number of bicycle racks with frame-locking options will be gradually increased. In spring 2024, improvements were made at Huopalahti, Malminkartano, Oulunkylä, Pitäjänmäki and Puistola train stations and Kontula Metro Station.
The City of Helsinki seeks to increase the modal share of cycling to 20 percent by 2030. Services for cyclists play an important role in enabling this.
More information about Bike & Ride locations in Helsinki is available here