Länsimetro

Unlike previous extensions to the Helsinki Metro system, Länsimetro runs entirely underground.

The second phase opened on 3 December 2022[1] and continues the line further west to Kivenlahti,[2][3] near the municipal border of Kirkkonummi.

In February 2014, rock blasting was completed, and the fitting out of the tunnels and construction of the stations was started.

After Helsinki, Espoo is the second most populous city in Finland, served by roads, bus transport, and commuter trains, but previously not connected to the metro system.

It is connected to Helsinki by the Rantarata coastal railway and by two motorways: Finnish national road 1 (Turun moottoritie, to Turku) in the middle and the Western Highway (the Länsiväylä) in the south, near the coast.

As the primary passageway between southern Espoo and central Helsinki, the Länsiväylä has been repeatedly enlarged to cope with congestion, but still experiences chronic traffic jams during morning rush hours.

Since the 1990s, the Finnish state and the city of Helsinki had been willing to finance a part of the Länsimetro project and prepared to commence construction.

A year later, on 8 December 1998, Espoo city council decided to support the extension only to Tapiola, rejecting a continuation to Matinkylä and Kivenlahti.

In June 2007, the cities of Espoo and Helsinki jointly founded a company called Länsimetro Oy (English: "Western Metro Ltd.") to construct the extension.

[13] Following disputes related to the delayed opening of the first phase in August 2016, Ville Saksi replaced Kokkinen as CEO on 14 November 2016.

[14] Judicial complaints and appeals postponed the start for over a year, but all were rejected by the Supreme Administrative Court.

The proposed tracks would also have cut through the parks next to the Kiasma museum and the Helsinki Music Centre, and all the lines would have terminated at the Elielinaukio square next to the central railway station, without being integrated with any existing or future rail system.

[17] It proposed connecting Espoo with both the Länsiväylä and with Helsinki's city centre, with the eastern terminus being relocated to either Viikki or Laajasalo.

Preliminary plans, made in 2000 and 2001, estimated the cost of building the infrastructure for the metro extension to Matinkylä to be about €400 million.

[23] All contracts for tunneling and station building were signed in December 2011,[24] and rock blasting reached 50% completion in July 2012.