Helsinki Metro service restored to Kamppi and Ruoholahti stations

Closure of Central Railway Station Metro stop could be shorter than feared

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Helsinki’s Metro trains are again running all the way to Ruoholahti, the system’s westernmost station. A break in a water main near Helsinki’s main railway station on Sunday forced the Central Railway Station’s Metro station to close down, and still on Tuesday, Metro trains heading west stopped at Kaisaniemi.
      On Wednesday, service was reopened all the way to Ruoholahti, but the trains are driving past the Central Railway Station stop - normally the busiest on the network, - without stopping.
     
Initially it was feared that the damage caused by the flooding would keep the Railway Station Metro stop out of commission for up to six months.
      However, Deputy Mayor Pekka Sauri told Helsingin Sanomat International Edition that damage to the station’s escalators was less serious than feared, which means that the Metro station might be opened for service somewhat sooner.
      However, the elevators suffered considerable damage, and repairing them will take longer.
     
Meanwhile, a hole in the concrete barrier housing the water main whose rupture caused the flood remains a mystery.
      Helsinki Water managing director Jukka Piekkari says that the 74 x 83 cm hole, which allowed thousands of cubic metres of water to flood into the tunnel, was obviously deliberately drilled into the concrete casing after its construction.
      Nobody knows when the hole might have emerged. The part of the water main that ruptured on Sunday was built in 1967.
      Helsinki City Transport and Helsinki Water have formed a working group to go through archives to ascertain who might have had access to the walls of the concrete barrier over the decades.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Metro station flood highlights poor state of Helsinki municipal plumbing (10.11.2009)
  Serious water damage could close Helsinki’s busiest Metro station for months (9.11.2009)

Links:
  Helsinki City Transport
  Helsinki Water

Helsingin Sanomat