Submitted by Mikko, who says:

Helsinki Regional Transport Authority’s (HSL) draft map of rapid transit and trunk bus lines, published for comments on 16 February 2015. There are multiple errors and readability problems with this version, e.g. the commuter train designation letters are too small to be read, some Swedish-language names are wrong etc. Some notes:

• names of stations and stops are in Finnish and Swedish (officially bilingual country)
• the so-called Ring Rail Line (Kehärata) between Vantaankoski and Hiekkaharju (includes airport connection) will open in July 2015
• the trunk bus line 560 will open in August 2015
• the Ruoholahti-Matinkylä extension to the metro will open (hopefully) in late 2016
• the Matinkylä-Kivenlahti segment of the metro is currently under construction and is projected to open in 2020
• the conversion of the trunk bus line 550 to light rail is currently in a planning stage with projected opening of the first part in 2020 (funding decision to be made in 2016)
• the map doesn’t show any of the current tram system

Also submitted by Chris Helenius, who adds:

HSL/HRT… drafted a map for the planned trunk lines by year 2020, which combines commuter rail, the subway, and buses. I guess it’s a growing trend to mash together all the transit modes you’ve got, when your own maps start to seem empty and inferior to those of metropolises. The bus line is colored the same as the subway, because they want to brand the bus line as “subway-like”.

Transit Maps says:

If you were wondering how Helsinki’s new heart-shaped commuter rail line might look on an actual transit map, this draft map of future transit extensions gives at least some idea. It combines the commuter rail (thick purple lines), the Metro (thick orange lines) and select bus routes (thinner orange lines). 

Sadly, the heart shape isn’t present in this version of the map, which opts for a stolid rectilinear representation of the new route. Mikko is absolutely right – the letter designations for the commuter rail routes are way too small to be useful, although (Swedish naming errors excepted) the need for the map to be bilingual is handled fairly deftly.

To be honest, I really wish the bus routes were depicted in a different colour, although I see that the buses themselves have an orange livery that echoes that of the Metro’s trainsets. I’m personally not convinced that buses – no matter how “BRT-like” they are – are directly comparable to metro/subway service, but that doesn’t stop transit agencies from trying to tell us that they are!

As for “mashing together” all the transit modes (as Chris so eloquently puts it), this isn’t something I have a problem with – so long as it’s done well. This is a bit of a half-hearted effort, being as it’s really only a draft planning map to show future extensions to the current system rather than a proper in-use-by-the-public transit map.

Our rating: A tantalising look at the future, but not a finished product by any means. Two stars.

Source: HSL’s website (in Finnish only)