A large majority of the Finnish Goverment on February 24 rejected a major new rail network planned for the capital. Finance Minister Antti Rinne said that the scheme would be halted for now at least because of Parliament has not decided on budgeting for it.
The eight-kilometre railway would have run from the Pasila transport hub through a tunnel via Töölö, Helsinki city centre, Hakaniemi and back to Pasila. This would have linked the national rail grid and the Helsinki Metro with the country’s main airport, ports and sports and concert venues, for instance.
According to the Finnish Transport Agency, the line would have “smoothed traffic flow in the whole country”. The agency approved the plan three years ago. The European Union pledged five million euros for Rail Loop planning. The estimated price tag for the whole project was 900 million euros, with a five-year building period. A new above-ground rail link between the city centre and Helsinki Airport in Vantaa is to be completed this summer after a series of delays.
Photo: www.irits.org
Share on:
