Lahti railway station

The Lahti railway station (Finnish: Lahden rautatieasema, Swedish: Lahtis järnvägsstation) is located in the city of Lahti in Finland.

Lahti
Lahtis
VR station
Lahti railway station.
LocationMannerheiminkatu 15, 15100
Keski-Lahti, Lahti
Finland
Coordinates60°58′37″N 25°39′27″E
Owned byFinnish Transport Agency
Line(s)Kerava–Lahti railway line
Platforms3
Tracks7
Construction
Structure typeGround station
Other information
Station codeLh
ElectrifiedYes
Passengers
2014880,000[1]
Services
Preceding station Helsinki commuter rail Following station
Herrala
towards Riihimäki
 G Terminus
Mäntsälä
towards Helsinki
 Z
Preceding station VR Group Following station
through to Tikkurila Kerava–Lahti through to Kouvola
Preceding station Russian Railways Following station
Tikkurila
towards Helsinki
 Tolstoy Kouvola
towards Moscow Leningradsky
Preceding station Karelian Trains Following station
Tikkurila
towards Helsinki
 Allegro Kouvola
towards St.Petersburg–Finlyandsky
Location

Architecture

The station was designed by architect Thure Hellström from the Finnish State Railways and built in 1935. Because of the depression in the 1930s, the station did not get a third floor, neither did it get a tower, as the Tampere railway station did. The plan of the station is rectangular and it has two floors. It is built of dark brown brick, just as the warehouses in the vicinity of the main building. In the 1950s, the room between the station house and the rail yard was filled by a garden, featuring a fountain.[2]

Near the Lahti railway station is the stationmaster's quarters, which is considered to be a culturally significant building in the Päijät-Häme region around Lahti. It was built in 1912 and was designed by architect Albert Leidenius.[3]

History

The Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway reached Lahti in August 1869, and the first train arrived there just three months later, on 1 November. Around the same time, a siding to the shore of the Vesijärvi was built and the Vesijärvi railway station established, cementing Lahti's status as a crossing between the railway and the waterborne traffic on the Päijänne.[4]

The first station building in Lahti, built according to stock plans from Knut Nylander for class III stations, was completed in 1869; however, it was destroyed in a fire soon after its opening. A new station was designed in 1873, again by Nylander, and its construction was completed in 1874. It bore a resemblance to the original Vyborg railway station building, presumed to have been designed by either Nylander himself or Wolmar Westling.[4]

Shortly after the railway to Heinola was completed, the second station building was deemed to have grown insufficient to meet the needs of the city and the traffic passing through it. The third and final station building was built in 1935.[4]

In 2006, the station was renovated. The ticket office was moved from the east side of the corridor to the west side, and the storage lockers and R-kioski were removed from there, so that the ticket office is on the right-hand side when entering the station. The station restaurant is still in its original place on the east side of the station. The station platforms and the underpass tunnel of the west side of Vesijärvenkatu were also renovated. The renovation intended to make the station more efficient, when the more direct track from Helsinki to Lahti was opened on 1 September 2006.

Services

Commuter trains
Main article: Helsinki commuter rail

Lahti is a terminus for two lines on the Helsinki commuter rail network: Z to Helsinki and G to Riihimäki. It is also one end of the unnamed commuter rail line to Kouvola, which merges with line Z at points: on weekdays, two commuter trains leave Kouvola in the early morning and proceed to Helsinki via Lahti. This service is also operated in the direction Helsinki–Kouvola once at late at night on weekdays, as well as in the direction Kouvola–Helsinki on weekend middays. Additionally, several of the Lahti–Kouvola commuter services are operated all the way from or continue towards Kotka as well.

Long-distance trains

As one of the termini of the Kerava–Lahti railway, all eastbound long-distance services from and to Helsinki stop at Lahti. After making a stop in Kouvola, these services then diverge to either the Kouvola–Iisalmi line towards Kuopio, or on the Kouvola–Joensuu line towards Imatra or Joensuu.

There is also a direct connection to Loviisa on the south coast, with the route's other terminus being in the Port of Loviisa.[5]

International trains

Lahti is served by both of the services operated between Finland and Russia: night train Tolstoy between Helsinki and Moscow, and high-speed train Allegro between Helsinki and St. Petersburg.

  • The first festival train to Mäntsälä right before leaving Lahti, on 1 September 2006.
  • The Allegro high-speed train connects Lahti to Saint Petersburg.

See also

References
  1. "2014 FI - Renor Oy" (PDF). renor.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  2. Niskanen, Riitta (2000). Selvitys Lahden kulttuurihistoriallisesti arvokkaista kohteista (in Finnish). Hollola: City of Lahti. p. 54. ISBN 951-849-521-1.
  3. "Valtakunnallisesti merkittävät rakennetut kulttuuriympäristot: Lahden rautatieasema ja varikkoalue". RKY.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Heritage Agency. 22 December 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  4. Iltanen, Jussi. Radan varrella: Suomen rautatieliikennepaikat (in Finnish). ISBN 978-951-593-214-3.
  5. "Päijät-Hämeen vähäliikenteisiä raiteita ylläpidetään miljoonilla – Lahti–Loviisa-radalle ounastellaan lisää käyttöä" (in Finnish). Yle. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
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