Tampere Central Station

Tampere
Tammerfors
VR station
Tampere railway station, July 2013.
General information
LocationRautatienkatu 25, 33100
Tampere
Finland
Coordinates61°29′54.5″N 023°46′23″E / 61.498472°N 23.77306°E / 61.498472; 23.77306
Owned byFinnish Transport Agency
Tracks5
Construction
Structure typeGround
Other information
Fare zoneA
History
Opened1876
ElectrifiedYes
Passengers
20185.25 million[1]
Services
Preceding station VR commuter rail Following station
Lempäälä
towards Helsinki
R Terminus
Lempäälä
towards Toijala
M Tesoma
towards Nokia
Preceding station VR Group Following station
Terminus Tampere–Pori Nokia
towards Pori
Tampere–Seinäjoki Parkano
towards Seinäjoki
Tampere–Haapamäki Orivesi
towards Haapamäki
Toijala
towards Helsinki
Helsinki–Kolari
(overnight service)
Parkano
towards Kolari
Helsinki–Kemijärvi
(overnight service)
Parkano
towards Kemijärvi

Tampere Central Station is a functionalist building in Tampere, Finland, designed by Eero Seppälä and Otto Flodin, completed in 1936. The station is one of the most important railway stations in Finland. In 2015, the Tampere Central Station was the second busiest railway station in Finland in terms of numbers of passengers, after the Helsinki Central Station.[2]

The 36-metre clock tower was later added because the Finnish railway bureau required it (its total height from ground level is about 50 metres). The city's main street Hämeenkatu begins at the railway station, continuing over the Hämeensilta bridge to its western end at the Aleksanteri Church. The Itsenäisyydenkatu (originally called Puolimatkankatu) street begins at the Tammela side of the station, continuing to the Kaleva Church.[3]

Monitor in the station building

Situated in a central location, the station and its railway yard have served as divisors of the city's districts almost in the same way as Tammerkoski: Tamperean places are often located by saying which side of the station they are on.

For decades, there has been discussion of a unified travel centre in Tampere: currently, the long-distance bus terminal, the Tampere Bus Station, is quite far away from the railway station.

Matkakeskustunneli, a pedestrian subway under the Central Station

There are currently three platforms in the Tampere railway station, two of which have a roof. There are five tracks in total, but there are plans to add a fourth platform, making seven tracks in total.

The Tampere cargo station is located south from the passenger station. It includes one of the busiest railway organisation yards in Finland. The green building on the east side of the tracks, opposite the old passenger station is the old cargo station. A track leads from the cargo station, over the highway to Helsinki, to the Nekala district, which previously contained many private tracks servicing stock companies. Nowadays, some of the tracks have been disassembled and some are disused. The starting point of the track is used to store train carriages.

  1. ^ "State rail monopoly VR to run Tampere trams from 2021". YLE. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  2. ^ Zitting, Marianne: Suomen vilkkaimmat rautatieasemat top 10, Iltalehti 17 February 2016. Accessed on 1 July 2018.
  3. ^ Iltanen, Jussi: Radan varrella: Suomen rautatieliikennepaikat (2nd edition), pp. 79-81. Finnish Map Bureau 2010. ISBN 978-952-593-214-3 Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: checksum.