Trams in Finland

In Helsinki, horse trams operated between 1890 and 1900, and again between 1913 and 1917. Since 1900, electric trams have operated there.

For part of its existence, the Helsinki tramway network has been supplemented by a trolleybus line: in 1949–1974, and on a trial basis in 1979–1985.

Valmet RM 2 no. 49 on line 1 to the harbour at Market Square in Turku, 1959.

There was a horse-drawn tramway in Lauttasaari, an island that was a part of the municipality of Huopalahti, which was later merged into Helsinki.

Kulosaari, Haaga, Huopalahti and Helsinge municipality had a tramway that belonged to Helsinki.

In Turku, there were horse-drawn trams from 1890 to 1892, and electric trams from 1908 to 1972. The tram network was abandoned in 1972, when the last remaining tram line was replaced by buses.

The arguments against the Turku tramway were associated with the 1960s view that trams were an outdated mode of transport, while buses were seen as modern technology. The decision to close the Turku tramway network can also be seen in part as inspired by events in Stockholm, which had closed most of its tramway network a little earlier.

The municipalities of Kaarina and Maaria in the Turku region had a tramway that belonged to Turku.

Locally built tramway locomotive (with AEG traction motors) in Vyborg, 1940.

Trams began running in Viipuri, then in Finland, in 1912. They were electrically operated from the start.

Following the cession of the city to the Soviet Union during World War II, the tramway network remained in service until 1957.

Some narrow gauge Finnish railways with mostly or only freight traffic have been called "tramways".

These railways include a "freight tram" in Tampere (from Finlayson to Santalahti woodyard a few kilometres away, closed in 1957), the harbour railway in Lohja (Finland's first electric railway, from the state railway station to the port, including passenger services, closed in 1930), the railway in Mustio (a freight line from the railway station to the mill, closed in 1964) and Kyröskoski industrial railway in Hämeenkyrö (Finland's last narrow gauge industrial railway, closed in 1989).

In the Helsinki region, there are also other plans to expand the network, through a larger project called Jokeri ("The Joker", after the playing card). This planned expansion would be the first light rail line in Helsinki, and would involve the conversion of the current Jokeri bus line, line 550, into a cross city tramway similar to Stockholm's Tvärbanan.

The Jokeri line runs from the site of the Länsimetro station at Aalto-yliopisto and Keilaniemi, Espoo in the west to the Itäkeskus metro station, Helsinki in the east. It also offers interchange with commuter rail services in Leppävaara, Espoo and Oulunkylä and Huopalahti, Helsinki.

The Helsinki tramway network is being extended to Jätkäsaari south of Ruoholahti, and Laajasalo east of the city centre, through a series of bridges across the islands including Korkeasaari, in a project known as the Crown Bridges.

The construction of the Tampere light rail system started in 2017.[1]

In Turku, the newest light rail plan was approved as part of the Turku area public inquiry for the period to 2020. In December 2009, the Turku City Council decided that "light rail will be built for the routes that are heavily congested, when the financial plan and related conditions, and government financing and the proportions that the other municipalities within the region will pay for construction, have been agreed."[2]

There have also been proposals to build a heritage tramway in Turku that would run during the summer season along the Aura River between the Turku Castle and Martinsilta (St Martin's Bridge), and later also to the Market Square, in perhaps the most attractive part of Turku. The old tram depot (with a few old, restored cars in operating condition) is on Linnankatu, a stone's throw from the castle and the river. The route would be relatively short, and the tramway would therefore be relatively inexpensive to build. The Museum Tram initiative is pending in the Turku city administration, but has not been progressed since 2005.