First rush-hour for the Metro extension

Monday 20 November marked the first rush-hour for the Metro extension to Espoo. The morning peak passed without incident. After the morning peak, the Metro was running at irregular headways due to a safety device failure.

Both Metro lines (Matinkylä-Vuosaari and Tapiola-Mellunmäki) operate at 5-minute headways in the morning peak about 6am-9am and in the afternoon peak about 2pm-6.30pm. This means that on the shared section of line between Tapiola and Itäkeskus, the headways are 2.5 minutes. At peak times, the Metro operates with 36 trains.

 “Monday morning was the first real test for the Metro extension, with the Metro running at the short headways from end to end for the first time with passengers,” says Suvi Rihtniemi, the Executive Director of HSL.

After the morning peak, the Metro was running at irregular headways from about 9.30am to 11am due to a safety device failure.

Over the weekend, Metro services were running as planned with the exception of a short disruption and irregular headways on Saturday evening. Passenger numbers were exceptionally high on both Saturday and Sunday. The exact number of passengers is not yet available.

The next major change to public transport in the HSL area will take place on 3 January 2018 when bus routes in South Espoo and Lauttasaari are replaced by feeder services to Metro stations.

HSL is running a special offer to celebrate the opening of the Metro extension and its eight new stations. Until 3 December, you get a mobile regional ticket for the price of an internal ticket. The offer applies to tickets purchased via the HSL Mobile ticket app in Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen.