Train depots and railway station areas

Train depots are nodes in the travel and transport chain, and as part of the state-owned railway network they are the responsibility of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. Railway station areas on the whole are also key urban development sites. The tasks of many different operators meet in railway station areas. 

Railway station area development projects aim at developing stations and their surroundings to make them even better centres for housing, trade and business than currently and connecting them to the urban structure and the rest of the public transport system more closely. Railway station area development projects are under way in many cities around Finland.

Train depots are nodes in the travel and transport chain, enabling changes and transfers both within the railway system and between train services and other modes of transport. They are buffers, enabling the efficient use of the capacity of the railway network.

Key train depots from the point of view of both passenger traffic and goods transport with a need for various renovation, improvement or development measures are Kokkola-Ykspihlaja, Kouvola, Oulu, Riihimäki, Tampere, Vainikkala and Imatra. All of these are located on arterial routes and nearly all of them are also located in the TEN-T core network and are key depots from the point of view of network functionality. 

Passenger railway station track yards have plenty of improvement needs in issues affecting passenger conditions, which are concerned with low passenger platforms in poor condition, platform lengths or dangerous passages between platforms (e.g. in Kemi, Kokkola, Lappeenranta, Pieksämäki and Rovaniemi). The importance of an accessible environment will be further emphasised due to the population ageing, for example. 

The scheduled and daily maintenance of station infrastructure need more attention. The condition and maintenance of the environment also affect the customers’ willingness to use public transport, accessibility and passenger safety and feeling of safety. An increase in vandalism also requires that more emphasis be put on care and maintenance.  

The functionality of park-and-ride systems on stations is also an important part of transport chains. Their development requires cooperation between different operators. In addition to a willingness for development, funding is also needed.

Train station passenger flows

Railway transport is divided unevenly geographically and most passenger traffic is centralised in the Helsinki region and southern Finland.

Of the approximately 76 million train journeys in Finland, 94% are taken within a 300 kilometre radius from Helsinki, which means all local traffic journeys and 64% of long-distance traffic journeys. The terminus of the northern-most train connection is in Kolari. The connection serves the tourism centres in the area, in particular.

Of the total passenger flow in Finland, 80% runs through 27 stations (14% of stations). In terms of number of passengers, the busiest five stations in Finland are Helsinki Central Station, Pasila, Tikkurila, Leppävaara and Malmi.

The busiest stations outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area are Tampere, Kerava, Lahti, Turku, Oulu, Seinäjoki and Riihimäki.

Status of land use development projects concerning train station areas important in terms of long-distance traffic

Train station areas are key sites for urban development. In addition to being developed as transport nodes, train station areas are also developed as areas for housing, jobs and services, especially in large and medium-sized cities.

Significant train station area development projects are under way in Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Joensuu, Kuopio and Lahti, among others.

The land use, housing and transport (MAL) agreements in Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä and Lahti include provisions on promoting the development of travel and station centres in cooperation between the state and the urban areas. The train deport improvement in Kuopio is under way and the MAL agreement includes a provision on developing travel information in the travel centre area.

It is important to ensure that the objectives and planned solutions of land use development projects in train depots and train station areas accommodate the preconditions set by the functionality of passenger traffic and goods transport.