Swedish contractor Skanska and Swedish engineering consultancies Sweco and Rejlers are picking up light rail-related work in Helsinki as the Finnish capital enters a decade of tramline expansion to accommodate a growing population.
An alliance of these three along with two Finnish firms – geotechnical engineer Sipti Infra and architects Arkkitehtityöhuone APRT – have won a €252m contract to design and build a replacement for the city’s Koskela tram depot.
Covering 41,000 sq m in area, the new depot replaces a facility dating back 80 years. It will be able to store and maintain up to 50 trams.
Skanska is the main contractor for the project. Work starts in the first quarter of next year and is scheduled to finish in the second quarter of 2029.
Building depot capacity
Work on the Koskela depot can start because a €100m expansion of Helsinki’s main depot at Ruskeasuo – with space for 100 trams – is due to finish, thus freeing up depot capacity.
Skanska and Sweco were part of the design-build team behind Ruskeasuo depot, as well.
The new-and-improved depots are needed to manage the growing fleet of trams as the city expands its network at what it calls “record speed”.
Seven new lines
Helsinki has a well-developed tram network already, with 11 lines spanning 110km and an annual ridership of around 57 million.
But the company managing the network, Metropolitan Area Transport, lists seven new planned lines totalling more than 50km of new track.
The 10km Crown Bridges light railway will connect western suburbs – Korkeasaari, Kalasatama, and Laajasalo – with the help of three new bridges, one of them 1.2km long. It’s under construction and due to open in 2027.
Other planned light railways include the Vantaa line, running 19km from Helsinki Airport to Mellunmäki Metro Station; and the Vihdintie line, running 10.5km north-south from Erottaja in Helsinki city centre to Kannelmäki.
Sweco said it was looking forward to providing design and engineering services for the tram bonanza.
“We will provide all necessary multidisciplinary design services for the alliance and thereby support Helsinki in transforming into a true ‘15-minute city’, with sustainable and efficient public transport systems,” said Thomas Hietto, business area president of Sweco Finland.
Joe Quirke contributed reporting
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