Helsinki Metro

The Helsinki Metro (Finnish: Helsingin metro, Swedish: Helsingfors metro) is a rapid transit system serving the Helsinki capital region, Finland. It is the only metro system in Finland as well as the world's northernmost metro system. It was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of planning. It is operated by Helsinki City Transport and Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd for Helsinki Regional Transport Authority and carries 92.6 million passengers per year.

The Helsinki Metro is a system separate from the main railway network in Finland, forming the core of public transport in Helsinki along with the Helsinki commuter rail, the Helsinki light rail and trunk bus lines in the capital region.

The system consists of 2 lines, serving a total of 30 stations, of which 21 are underground and 9 overground. It has a total length of 43 km (26.7 mi). It is the predominant rail link between the suburbs of East Helsinki and the western suburbs in the city of Espoo and downtown Helsinki.

The line passes under Helsinki Central Station, allowing passengers to transfer to and from the Helsinki commuter rail network, including trains on the Ring Rail Line to Helsinki Airport.

The metro system originally consisted of a single line from Rautatientori metro station to Itäkeskus metro station. It has since been expanded with a fork on the eastern end, with one end going to Mellunmäki metro station in the north and the other going to Vuosaari metro station in the east, as well as an extension to Ruoholahti metro station in the west end. The Länsimetro extension, opened on 18 November 2017, further expanded the system westwards via Lauttasaari metro station into the neighbouring city of Espoo to the Tapiola metro station and the Matinkylä metro station. On 3 December 2022 the line was further expanded to the west all the way to Kivenlahti metro station.

The two lines on the system mostly share the same track. Line M1 travels between Kivenlahti and Vuosaari while line M2 travels between Tapiola and Mellunmäki. In addition, in the morning line M1B travels between Itäkeskus and Vuosaari and line M2B travels between Itäkeskus and Mellunmäki, while in the evening line M2A travels between Kivenlahti and Mellunmäki.

The initial motion for building a metropolitan railway system in Helsinki was made in September 1955, though during the five decades beforehand, the idea of a tunneled urban railway for Helsinki had surfaced several times. A suburban traffic committee (Finnish: Esikaupunkiliikenteen suunnittelukomitea) was formed under the leadership of Reino Castrén [fi] (1908–1981), and in late 1955, the committee set to work on the issue of whether or not there was truly a need for a tunneled public transport system in Helsinki. After nearly four years of work, the committee presented its findings to the city council.

The committee estimated that the population of Helsinki would grow rapidly, so the capacity of the street network would not be enough for the growing amount of private car traffic and public traffic. The committee proposed moving public transport underground, which would free the overground street network for private car traffic and keep both the direct costs and the indirect costs of public transport in bounds.