Metro in Helsinki celebrates 30th birthday

The Helsinki Metro is the only subway system in Finland and it is also the World's most northern metro system. President of the Republic of Finland Mauno Koivisto officially opened the Metro for traffic on 2 August 1982.  

Opening of the Ruoholahti station in1983. Speaker in the opening ceremony Transport Minister Mr  Ole Norrback,  who has been Ambassador in Athens. Photo: Embassy of Finland, Athens

The initial motion for building a metropolitan railway system in Helsinki was already made in September 1955. On 1 June 1982, the test drives were opened to the general public.

Trains ran with passengers during the morning and afternoon rush hours between Itäkeskus and Hakaniemi .According to the Helsinki City Transport (HKL) yearly report for 2008, the metro system had a total of 57,6 million passengers.

The system primarily serves the tightly built suburbs of East Helsinki, but can also be used as a means of transport within the central parts of the city. The Länsimetro extension will continue the line into western Helsinki and the southern parts of the neighbouring city of Espoo.The extension is expected to be in operation in 2015 at the earliest.