Lielahti (Swedish: Lielax) is a suburb in the city of Tampere, Finland, with important industrial and commercial facilities. Lielahti was annexed to the city in 1950 from Ylöjärvi parish.[1] Lielahti lies about 7 kilometres west from the city centre.
The most prominent sight when arriving Lielahti is maybe the M-real pulp mill, which can sometimes also be sensed nasally.
There is also a railway station in Lielahti, but its use in passenger traffic was discontinued in 1984 due to its lack of passengers. It remains though as a freight station used to transport pulp even today, and its most important function is as a railway junction, since the railway tracks from Pori (Björneborg) and Seinäjoki merge there, continuing as a double-track railway to the main station of Tampere. The National Board of Antiquities has classified the Lielahti station area as a nationally significant protected site.[2]
In the future it is quite likely that local public transport in Tampere region will again be provided by commuter trains, in a way or another. Then the trains bound from and to Nokia, and perhaps from and to Ylöjärvi will stop at the Lielahti station.