Lielahti

Tokmanni discount store in Lielahti
The Lielahti manor is located near the shore of lake Näsijärvi.

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]

Freight trains at the Lielahti station

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.

  1. ^ Maija Louhivaara: Tampereen kadunnimet, p. 241. Tampereen museoiden julkaisuja 51, 1999, Tampere. ISBN 951-609-105-9. (in Finnish)
  2. ^ Jussi Iltanen: Radan varrella: Suomen rautatieliikennepaikat, p. 117. Helsinki: Karttakeskus, 2010. (in Finnish)