Strike by Helsinki City Transport drivers causes less traffic chaos than expected

Long jams from the eastern suburbs; bikes, taxis, and train services in demand

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The strike by drivers of the Helsinki City Transport’s (HKL) buses, trams and metro trains resulted in less mayhem in Monday’s rush-hour traffic than had been expected.
      According to police, traffic was worst affected on the eastern motorway Itäväylä,.along Hakamäentie, and on Mechelininkatu. By 10 a.m., however, the only long queues were on Itäväylä. The eastern side of the city was particularly affected by the stoppage, since it is fed by the metro and has no train connections with the centre.
      Lines of cars started forming on Itäväylä by around 7.30 this morning, and traffic was moving at a crawl from Herttoniemi westwards towards the city centre.
      Police estimated that there was twice the normal Monday volume of cars driving towards Helsinki from the east.
     
According to Finnish Railways (VR), the local commuter trains coped well with the increased load in the morning. Local trains from the direction of Malmi and Tikkurila had appreciably more passengers than usual, but extra rolling-stock had been provided and everybody managed to get on board.
      Inside the city centre itself, vehicle traffic moved relatively smoothly, and the worst jams were over by around 10 a.m. The often troublesome Porkkalankatu junction, leading to and from the urban motorway to the southern Espoo suburbs, was blocked in both directions, as employees also tried to get out to workplaces in the neighbouring city.
     
The strike action shut down HKL’s metro services, the tram network, and all bus lines operated by HKL’s Bus Transport unit. Some buses run by HKL and extending out into the Greater Helsinki area were also affected.
      By contrast, routes operated by Suomen Turistiauto and Connex and Concordia buses are in normal service. Details of buses not running are given (in Finnish) on the HKL website.
     
Taxi firms had prepared for a sharp increase in demand on Monday morning, with all available taxis in service between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m.
      Some 1,400 cabs were on the streets, compared with a normal Monday figure of around 900. Although some restrictions on advance bookings had to be implemented, it was possible to order a taxi on Monday morning by phone as usual.
     
The strike affects roughly 1,400 drivers working for HKL who are members of the KTV and KVL unions (see earlier article). The staff are protesting against plans to merge HKL’s bus services with those of Suomen Turistiauto to possibly form a limited private company. The Helsinki City Council will vote on the plans on Wednesday of this week.
      Members of KVL have already resolved that they will return to work on Tuesday morning, after a 24-hour protest. The remaining half of the drivers, who belong to KTV, will decide on whether to continue their action at a meeting on Monday afternoon.
      The employers' side argues that the stoppage is illegal, and that there are no plans afoot to privatise HKL's bus services.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki City Transport drivers to strike on Monday - traffic chaos likely (10.9.2004)

Links:
  HKL pages listing buses not in service (in Finnish)

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