HSL approved the West Metro feeder bus route plan after consulting the member municipalities

HSL has received comments on the West Metro feeder bus route plan from its member municipalities and revised the plan on the basis of the comments. The Executive Board of HSL approved the feeder route network on 20 January 2015.

“As the West Metro will create a trunk transport link with frequent service from Matinkylä to the center of Helsinki, an increasing number of journeys in Espoo and between Espoo and Helsinki will in future be made by rail. In South Espoo and Lauttasaari, buses will mainly provide feeder services to Metro stations because it is not reasonable to provide bus services overlapping with the Metro," says the HSL Director of Public Transport Planning Department Tero Anttila

The opening of the new Metro line will bring changes also to bus services in Lehtisaari and Kuusisaari as the areas are currently served by regional routes serving South Espoo. Changes in Lauttasaari will affect also bus routes in Maunula, Paloheinä, Pakila and Veräjälaakso.  In addition, the changes will affect bus routes in the catchment area of the coastal line in Espoo and Kauniainen. The existing bus routes from Kirkkonummi to Helsinki will in future terminate in Matinkylä.

“At draft stage, the West Metro feeder bus route plan was made available for public comments both online and at residents' meetings.  We received over 1,700 comments and the plan was revised on the basis of the comments," says Anttila.

Changes in Lauttasaari

HSL has made changes to the planned bus routes in Lauttasaari together with the City Planning Department, as required by the City of Helsinki.

The route of bus 20 from Katajaharju is extended to Ruoholahti and bus 21B from Vattuniemi will only run until the Lauttasaari Metro station. Bus 21 will provide a direct link from Vattuniemi to Ruoholahti and further to Erottaja.

Compared to the draft plan, supply is somewhat increased in Vattuniemi around the clock but on peak services in Katajaharju are decrease slightly. However, thanks to the changes, the Katajaharju bus route will provide better transport links in the direction of Ruoholahti. Improving the service level in Lauttasaari will cut the savings on bus services by about 360,000 euros a year.

In line with the proposal by the City of Helsinki, no Sunday service will be introduced on route 51 in Maunula, which will increase the savings achieved by the plan by about 300,000 euros a year. On Sundays, old Maunula will be served by route 66K. No other changes are made to bus routes in Maunula. Extending the route of bus 51 to the Central Railway Station is not sensible due to lack of space in the area.

More services to Espoo

Following the proposal by the City of Espoo, route 115 has been added into the plan. The route will provide serve passengers from Juhanila area to Tapiola. On weekends, route 115A will operate to Lauttasaari serving also the Hanasaari cultural center.  Introduction of route 115 will reduce the savings on bus services by about 360,000 euros a year.

The terminus of route 548 is moved from Lähderanta to Jupperi. The change enables transport links from Jupperi to Viherlaakso where the health center and schools in the area are located.  Also these changes were included in the proposal by Espoo. The changes increase costs significantly, by about 560,000 euros a year. They will enable terminating routes 247 and 248 in Lähderanta but this will not offset the increase in costs.

The feeder bus route plan has been prepared for a situation where the West Metro operates to Matinkylä and all related streets and terminals have been completed. However, when the Metro services will launch in autumn 2016, construction work will still be underway in places and consequently, temporary solutions will have to be put in place. The planning of these solutions is underway and they are not included in the plan now approved.