Ring Railway to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport

The Ring Rail Line consolidates the metropolitan area: from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to the city centre of Helsinki, within half an hour. The Ring Rail Line joining the Helsinki main railway line and the commuter traffic route in Martinlaakso is one of the most significant railway projects for a decade. The Ring Rail Line project will allow the residents of new districts in the metropolitan area to use rail transport services and will connect Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to the railway line network.

The construction of the Ring Rail Line started in spring 2009 and was opened in July 2015. The new 18-kilometre line will also speed up cross town travel in Vantaa, and will provide better railway connections in the area. The feeder traffic will also allow people living farther away to take advantage of the feeder traffic services to the airport. Passengers coming on long-distance trains from the north can change trains in Tikkurila. The trip from Tikkurila to the airport will take about eight minutes.

New low-floor trains will run at 10-minute intervals in both directions during peak periods. The rail capacity can be utilized more efficiently, since trains will be able to run in a loop. The journey time from the centre of Helsinki to the airport will be about half an hour.

The Ring Rail Line is a two-track urban line reserved exclusively for passenger traffic. It has surface stations at Vehkala, Kivistö and Leinelä as well as the Aviapolis and Airport tunnel stations. Plans allow for additional stations underground at Ruskeasanta and Viinikkala and on the surface at Petas. The busiest stations are Kivistö and Airport.

The Ring Rail Line goes under the airport in an 8-kilometre tunnel with two tubes. Coming from the west the tunnel begins on the northeast side of the Katriinantie- Tikkurilantie intersection and resurfaces in Ilola to the east of Laaksotie and south of Koivukylänväylä.

WSP has been involved in several phases of the Ring Rail Line project from early environmental impact assessments and preliminary engineering phases to final construction design. We are responsible for coordinating the environmental design for the whole line, as well as for the design of the Vantaankoski, Kivistö and Leinelä stations.

WSP provided the railway design, geotechnical engineering, structural and bridge design services for the western open rail line, as well as being entrusted with the design of service roads and intersecting streets. In addition, we are responsible for the quality assurance of the whole line on the surface.  We also provided the design of road and street works, geotechnical engineering, rock mechanics and environmental design services for the tunnels of the line.