HSL to launch four direct bus routes from Espoonlahti to Helsinki on 22 October

From 22 October, four bus routes will operate from Espoonlahti to Kamppi at peak times Monday to Friday. HSL will introduce the direct routes to reduce peak demand on the Metro and to ensure sufficient transport links to/from Espoonlahti until the Metro extension to Kivenlahti is completed.

From Monday 22 October, four new bus routes will operate from Espoo to Kamppi at peak times Monday to Friday. The new routes are 143A Soukka-Iivisniemi-Kamppi, 146A Kivenlahti-Kamppi, 147A Espoonlahti-Soukka-Laurinlahti-Kamppi and 164A Saunalahti-Kivenlahti-Kamppi.

The buses will run Monday to Friday about 6am-9.30am and 2pm-6.30pm. The buses will not run via Metro Stations in Espoo to enable fast journey times. The buses will run every 10-15 minutes depending on the route.

Read more about the routes and timetables of the new bus services

 “The aim of the buses running to Kamppi is to reduce peak demand on the Metro. Metro ridership has increased in Espoo faster than expected and the trains have been very crowded in particular between Tapiola and Matinkylä,” says Tero Anttila, the Director of HSL’s Public Transport Department. “We chose Espoonlahti because we want to reduce the peak demand on the Metro as effectively as possible and feeder routes to Matinkylä are long. As the area is densely built up, the buses will not be underused.”

“One of the reasons for deciding to launch direct routes was the schedule of the Metro extension. We want to ensure sufficient transport links for the Espoonlahti area until the Metro to Kivenlahti is completed. Metro service to Kivenlahti is expected to start in 2023.”

The new routes will be included in the Journey Planner in week 39. The timetables of the routes will be available at bus stops gradually from 10 October.

Changes to feeder services

When the new routes to Kamppi start running, the feeder routes 143, 146 and 147 will start running less frequently at peak times. Route 124 will be split in two so that every other service will run to Saunaniemi under route number 124K. Bus 165 will start running more frequently outside peak hours, improving services from Saunalahti in the direction of Kauklahti.

“All in all, the level of service in Espoonlahti will improve,” says Anttila. “After the changes, there will be 18 services per hour in the morming from Espoonlahti to Kamppi and in the afternoon from Kamppi to Espoo”.