Construction of the West Metro continues – HSL concentrates on planning replacement bus services

Representatives of HSL, HKL, Länsimetro and the City of Espoo met on Monday to discuss the current situation of the West Metro project and planning of replacement bus services. Because the opening of the West Metro is delayed, HSL has started to plan replacement bus services for Espoo and Lauttasaari. Construction work on the West Metro stations continues.

The delay in the opening of the West Metro affects bus services in Espoo, Lauttasaari and Kirkkonummi. HSL is redesigning bus routes in the West Metro catchment area so that at least some of the routes could be extended to Helsinki.

 “There will be bus services from Espoo too Helsinki in August but it is too early to say exactly how the routes will operate,” says HSL Executive Director Suvi Rihtniemi. “We hope to have more information by the beginning of next week. In any case, our goal is that public transport serves people living in Espoo and Lauttasaari as well as possible, even if the Metro is not running.”

HSL is currently negotiating the operation of the service with bus operators and public transport planners have started to plan the new routes and timetables. Passenger information is also being updated.

Construction work on stations continues

At the same time, construction work on the West Metro stations continues, as well as the testing of technical systems and test runs of various systems.

Passenger safety on the Metro is ensured by 52 different automation system. Each system is tested separately and together. 

Even closer cooperation

A project group coordinated by HSL has been working on the opening of the new Metro line since February. Now cooperation will intensify even further.

 “It is extremely important that all those involved in the project are fully informed of where we are at. This has been the goal all the time and at this critical stage we need to pay even more attention to it,” says HSL Executive Director Suvi Rihtniemi.