Submitted by beesweet624, who says:
I visited Helsinki for a long weekend and it was really enjoyable. The public transportation was very reliable, on time, and went everywhere I needed to go. They have a simple metro system, a well-used tram system in the central part of the city, and numerous buses. However, I had a real problem with its commuter train map.
Helsinki’s commuter train map is really confusing. Essentially the stops are arranged in three lines all connecting at the two central hubs (Pasila and Helsinki) which are at the bottom of the map. However, the layout draws your eyes to the central loop. The main complaint I have, though, is the use of seemingly random letters to denote different trains types, while the only difference is at which stations they stop.
It doesn’t help that each station has two names, one in Finnish and one in Swedish (the two official languages of Finland), making it even messier, especially for foreigners who don’t speak either language.
Can anyone think of a better way to lay out this map?
Transit Maps says:
The big advantage of this layout is that it is very compact. In reality, the line out to Karjaa heads west, while Lahti is far to the north of Helsinki. Laying the routes out spatially would require a much larger area than this schematic view. That said, I think I prefer this older version from 2012 which colour-coded the lines rather than using colours to indicate fare zones. One could argue that the shaded zones behind the lines already do this job, but there seems to be a definite trend in HSL/HRT visual communications to use colour for very specific things – orange for rapid transit (Metro and express bus), purple for commuter rail within Helsinki, green for trains that go further afield, etc. – as can be seen on this map.
As for the seemingly random letters, all I can say is that they probably make perfect sense to the commuters who use them and know the advantage of a “Z” over an “N” for getting to Kerava quickly during the afternoon commute. It’s really no different to (for example) the New York Subway using a seemingly random selection of letters and numbers to denote different services and stopping patterns. Commuter rail is generally used by residents of a distant suburb who only travel from home to work and back again. They’re very familiar with the service because they use it every day and they have learned the best train to use for their trips. An indication that the “L” and the “T” are night-time services only would be welcome, but – again – regular commuters probably already know that.
Personally, I don’t have a problem with the bi-lingual labelling: it’s done relatively neatly, and works just fine in the context of the map. Those are the names of the stations and are what would appear on station signage. Adding an English translation of those names wouldn’t help at all. The map adds English to the legend and customer service information at the bottom of the map, where it’s actually useful to do so.
As far as the way the map looks, I really don’t like the way the lines fan out above Pasila: they all get much closer together visually and it looks pretty ugly. The P/I loop line pairing is pretty visually dominant, and I wonder if there could have been a way to combine them into a single route line with an indication that “P” runs clockwise and “I” counter-clockwise. I do suspect that they’re actually pretty proud of their new airport loop line and want to show it off, however.
The line that joins Riihimaki and Lahti still looks like a bit of an afterthought.
Our rating: A compact, space-efficient diagram that suits its target audience (regular commuters) well, but could be a little trickier for visitors to Helsinki to parse. I miss the colours of the older map. Still three stars, but a slightly lower three stars than before.
Source: HSL/HRT website (scroll down to the bottom)