Ode to Public Transportation

Oh Helsinki, how I adore thee! Thy buses, trains, trams and metros! 

There are other cities in the world with an amazing public transportation system, but not many beat Helsinki. This is one of those things that has only got better since I moved away. Helsinki used to have a good public transportation years ago, but if there was one thing wrong with it, it required passengers to transfer downtown. It was hard to go from Northeast Helsinki to Northwest. Now that is fixed. 

The new speed tram

Currently the HSL - the Helsinki Area Public Transit, which includes Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa - has a basic grid of transportation called trunk routes ("runkolinjat"). These include the commuter trains going north, northwest and west; the Metro line from the West to East (split in two there) in the southern part of Helsinki and Espoo; a speed tram line that follows a half circular route from the East to Southwest and several bus lines. The trunk route buses are a fancy orange, like the metro. 

A trunk route bus

 In Downtown Helsinki there is also an extensive tram network. These are beloved by many. A normal tram doesn't move terribly fast, but it has a clear route that's easy to learn and it stops often. They are also a fun way to see the city. In my youth we'd go "tramming" with my friends, just to enjoy Helsinki and its different atmospheres. In bad weather, give me a tram anytime. 

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To top it off, there are normal bus routes that cover everything in between. We normally take the bus from a stop five minutes (or less) from our house and then switch to a metro, speed tram or trunk route bus, depending on where we're going. We could also walk some 10-15 min to the nearest metro stop. The trip downtown takes about 30 minutes or a bit more. The trip to Nuuksio in the NW end of Espoo took us almost two hours (bus, metro, commuter train, bus), so public transportation can certainly require some time. But we got there - to a national park - without a car. 

Normal HSL bus

 The bus lines are covered by a number of entrepreneurs that HSL buys services from. In our neck of the woods, the buses are clean and accessible, there's normally plenty of space (unless you happen to be there when kids get off school) and the atmosphere is safe and peaceful. I have taken buses all over the area and mostly they are all good. Most buses have screens that post the name of the next stop in Finnish and English as well as the end stop - but not every bus has this. 

Metro trains travel mostly underground, so for sightseeing they are not the best option. However the eastern part of the lines is built above ground - from Sörnäinen to Vuosaari or Mellunmäki. You do get to admire the eastern archipelago especially on the way to Vuosaari. The first metros were launched in 1982, which means that they are not very old. They are also mostly clean thanks to the gleaming orange plastic benches. Maybe not pretty, unless you are a fan of orange plastic. Which I think many are after traveling in the London or NYC subways... 

Fun thing about the Helsinki metro: they make a very specific noise when leaving a station or arriving, so speed up or speed down. It is not the screeching noise of the NYC subway. You can listen to it here on Youtube.  

The Helsinki Metro

 Commuter trains have been around for a long time, but VR (State Railways) has built more lines since I moved away, notably the airport line. They have also bought new trains. The commuter trains are also clean, comfortable and quiet, unless you have the bad luck to end up in the same carriage with a sad child, noisy teenagers or drunk people... I've done all that many times, but I still think the overall experience is pleasant. For longer trips trains have more space than buses and you can walk around. Commuter trains don't have cafés or food, but long distance trains do. I'll probably write more on those later. 

Google Maps has made public transit much easier since you can search your route through it. You can also follow along where you're going. However, HSL has its own app that shows your route and where the bus or tram is before it comes to your stop. You can also buy tickets through this app. I obviously don't use the app. I got mad because it required me to do strong authentication... but a tourist can buy day tickets or single tickets with just a credit card. Supposedly. Unless your credit card company makes it difficult for you like ours did. 

There is no one map to cover all the routes, but if you want to look at the trunk routes or the tram routes or the commuter train routes, you can find them from the HSL pages: Route maps and station maps. Click "By mode of transportation" and enjoy your finds. 

One thing to mention is that all the new infrastructure has not come cheap. The monthly tickets that most Helsinki people have are now more expensive than ever and there have been talk about raising the prices still. The last news was that Helsinki refused to raise those prizes and the three cities now have to find alternative funding.