The festivities will begin already in the small hours of Saturday morning, when the first ever metro train west of Matinkylä leaves from Kivenlahti at 4.56am.
Robin Packalen to perform at the grand opening at Lippulaiva shopping center
The official ceremony at Lippulaiva begins at 10am, with coffee and cake being served by both entrances at the Espoonlahti station. The event will continue in the central square of the second floor of Lippulaiva at 10.30am with both music perfomances and informative sections.
The headliner for the event is Robin Packalen, who will start his show in the central square of Lippulaiva at 12 noon.
You can find the program for the event here.
In addition to Espoonlahti, various cultural groups from Espoo will organize activities at the other stations as well. On the day of the grand opening, the Finnoo, Kaitaa, Soukka and Kivenlahti metro stations will have so-called ”open stage” platforms where everyone can perfom during the day. These stages are easy to spot: just look for balloons with the word “Espoo” on them.
In addition, you can meet HSL’s specialists at every new station from 9am to 3pm.
Many other activities also take place around the new stations.
The grand opening is organized together by HSL, City of Espoo, Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd and Länsimetro Ltd.
Information about the new section of metro line
The new section of metro line will open on Saturday 3 December at 4.56am, when the first ever metro train from Kivenlahti will depart. An official opening ceremony will be held for the new metro line and its stations on the platform area of the Kivenlahti station at 4.40am, just before the first metro train departs. The station doors will be opened to the public at 4.30am.
In addition to the stations in Kivenlahti and Espoonlahti, the new stations also include Finnoo, Kaitaa and Soukka.
The first service to Kivenlahti will leave from Vuosaari at 5.07am. The first service to Kivenlahti from the Central Railway Station will leave at 5.28am.
You can find the timetables for the new metro services in the Journey Planner by searching for dates after 3 December.
The metro extension will not bring about any other changes to the public transport services during this year. New bus routes will be launched in Southern Espoo in February.
HSL app is the most convenient way to buy a ticket
All the new metro stations are located in zone C. In other words, when you travel on the new metro line extension, you will a ticket that covers zone C. For example, you will need a BC ticket to travel from Matinkylä to Kivenlahti. You will need an ABC ticket to travel from downtown Helsinki to the metro line extension.
The easiest way to buy a ticket is to download the HSL app on your smartphone. You can buy single, day and season tickets for all zones on the app.
Moreover, you can buy tickets with value stored on your HSL card at the card readers at the stations. Tickets are also available at various sales points, such as R-kiosks and the sales points of HOK-Elanto. In addition to the ticket machines and sales points, you can also top up your card online.
The new stations do not have ticket machines. All HSL ticket machines will be removed by the end of 2023, which is why the new stations are not equipped with said machines. The reason behind this change are the new card readers that will be installed next year. The new card readers will also enable contactless payment.
Extended service hours for HSL’s telephone customer service
HSL’s telephone customer service will open two hours earlier than usual at 7.30am on Saturday 3 December. You can contact HSL’s customer service by phone on +358 9 4766 4000 (local call rate).