Traffic to Lentävänniemi on Tampere Tramway will begin as scheduled on 7 January – Construction work was completed well under budget
The Tampere Tramway route will expand on Tuesday 7 January when traffic on tramway section 2B from Santalahti to Lentävänniemi begins. Work on the new section was completed on schedule, and the project budget was more than 7.5 million euros under the cost forecast. Tramway traffic began in Tampere in August 2021, and Tampere Tramway has already exceed the goals set for it in terms of popularity and passenger numbers. The start of traffic to Lentävänniemi is being celebrated today – Saturday 4 January – in Hiedanranta from 3–7 pm.
Tampere made the decision to build the tramway in November 2016 and after a construction and commissioning phase of nearly four years, traffic on Tampere Tramway began as scheduled on 2021 After that, a decision was made to expand the tramway route from Pyynikintori to Lentävänniemi so that construction was implemented in two phases. The section from Pyynikintori to Santalahti was completed in August 2023 and now – just over a year later – the route is expanding from Santalahti to Lentävänniemi. The first run to Pyhällönpuisto in Lentävänniemi will leave the Hervanta campus stop at 4:16 in the morning on Tuesday 7 January as a transfer run, and then depart from Pyhällönpuisto to Kauppi campus at 5:08. Tram line 1 will operate to Lentävänniemi.
The tramway has caused significant changes in the Tampere cityscape and regional public transport system. Tramway construction is both a transport infrastructure project and a major investment in urban development that has further increased the attractiveness and appeal of Tampere. The tramway is also an investment in a cleaner and easier everyday life.
– The expansion of Tampere Tramway to Lentävänniemi is a major step in terms of promoting sustainable development and a smooth everyday life in our city. It is especially nice that this large project and investment was completed on schedule and well under budget. We want to thank everyone who has participated in building this success story. The tramway has already become part of our city’s history – impacting our cityscape, our vitality and the everyday life of Tampere residents, sums up Mayor Kalervo Kummola.
Tampere Tramway operates on two routes: line 1 from the Tampere University Hospital area to Sorin aukio and line 3 from Hervanta to Sorin aukio.
The alliance model has proven its strength
The Tramway Alliance’s construction work between Santalahti and Lentävänniemi and the last test runs on Näsisaari island were completed in November 2024. The tramway built from Santalahti via Näsisaari and Hiedanranta to Lentävänniemi is the last section of a project that has lasted for nearly 10 years. Its completion marks the end of the Tramway Alliance as a project.
– The alliance model has proven its strengths in the development and construction phases. All parties have been committed to the common goals from the very beginning, and the spirit of the project has been outstanding. This is now visible as a successful end result, and coming in under budget is beneficial to all alliance partners. Our tramway system has proven to be reliable. I want to warmly thank every person who has been part of our project for their professional work, says Pekka Sirviö, CEO of Tampere Tramway Ltd.
The total length of the Tampere Tramway routes is 24 km at this time, and it has 33 tram stop pairs. The Santalahti–Lentävänniemi section has six new stops and five km of new tramway track. In addition to tramway construction, the City of Tampere has ordered many other types of work from the Tramway Alliance. These include so-called parallel projects completed in conjunction with tramway construction: water services work, cable piping, renewing street structures, and building new cycling routes.
– In terms of time and cost, it was logical to renew street structures in conjunction with tramway construction. This has also been the best solution for city residents, even though the road work was inconvenient for many people. The parallel projects means it will be a long time before we need more major road work, explains Mikko Nurminen, Director of Tampere’s Urban Environment and Infrastructure Services unit.
Including parallel projects, the Tramway Alliance’s binding objective cost for tramway section 2 was approximately 127 million euros, with the tramway accounting for 92.5 million euros of that amount.
– Completion of the second phase of Tampere Tramway means that this historical project has come to an end. I am very proud of the work done by the Tramway Alliance and the efforts of hundreds of designers and builders. All of the tramway work has been completed according to the planned schedule, and tramway traffic will begin on time. We will also be under the objective cost (cost forecast) for the project by more than 7.5 million euros, states Project Manager Timo Kuusela from the Tramway Alliance.
The popularity of public transport continues to rise
Tampere Tramway has become a very popular mode of public transport. According to Tampere Tramway’s annual consumer survey, up to 89% of Tampere residents have a positive attitude towards the tramway. Nysse performs continuous customer satisfaction research on public transport in the Tampere region in order to monitor people’s willingness to recommend Nysse routes. This research shows that the overall grades in the Nysse region in 2024 were 4.5 for tramway routes, 4.2 for bus routes and 4.2 for bus feeder lines. Overall customer satisfaction with tramway traffic is also measured monthly by asking passengers about driver activities, tramway safety, cleanliness and compliance with timetables, and tram stop cleanliness. This research shows that passengers are very satisfied with the level of service on the tramway: the average customer satisfaction grade for 2024 is 4.6 out of 5.
The popularity of the tramway is also visible in passenger numbers, which are constantly increasing. Approximately 46.5 million tramway journeys have been made since traffic started, and 16.6 million of these journeys took place during 2024. A total of 14.7 million journeys were made on the tramway in 2023, and the corresponding number for 2022 was approximately 11.5 million. Tramway traffic began on 9 August 2021, and just under 4 million journeys were made during the remainder of that year.
The tramway is also regularly breaking records in terms of the number of passengers on a single day. The most recent record for journeys made on the tramway was the first day of November, when nearly 71,000 ticket validations were made. During the latter part of the year, the number of weekday tram journeys were approximately 60,000 per day. Based on an assessment of the impacts of Tampere Tramway performed in 2016, the tramway was expected to have approximately 55,000 passenger per day in 2025 when the section between Santalahti and Lentävänniemi is in use.
– The tramway is a popular and important part of Nysse traffic. The success of the tramway means that public transport passenger numbers have been growing strongly throughout the region in recent years. Tramway feeder traffic in Hiedanranta enables a lot of departures and extensive operating hours for many residential areas in Ylöjärvi and northwest Tampere, says Mika Periviita, Director of Public Transport at Nysse.
In addition to the start of tramway traffic in Lentävänniemi, other changes to bus routes will take effect at the same time. The biggest changes are linked to expanding the tramway network in the west, and they target the Lielahti-Lentävänniemi and Ylöjärvi areas. Bus routes are being changed to avoid overlap with the expanding tramway route. This makes it possible to organise public transport in a more cost-effective way. The number of transfers will increase but departure frequency will improve, making it easier to use public transport.
New tram cars to meet growing demand
Tampere Tramway Ltd has ordered eight new tram cars to ensure sufficient capacity in the future for traffic on section 2 of the tramway. The new tram cars will be delivered to Tampere between July 2024 and April 2025.
– Tampere currently has 24 ForCity Smart Artic tram cars manufactured by Škoda Group at its Otanmäki factory in Kajaani. A total of 18 cars were previously in use at any given time, and this will increase to 23 once traffic to Lentävänniemi begins, says Sirviö.
In December 2024, Tampere Tramway Ltd placed an additional order for new tram cars for the Pirkkala–Linnainmaa tramway currently under construction. This new order means that Tampere Tramway will have a total of 16 cars that are 37-metres long and 19 longer 47-metre cars by summer 2028. The capacity of the existing 37-metre cars is 264 passengers and the new 10-metre longer cars can carry 345 passengers.
Towards Pirkkala and Ylöjärvi
The next tramway route expansion will cross the city boundary to Pirkkala. The city councils of Tampere and Pirkkala made a decision to build the Pirkkala–Linnainmaa tramway at the end of October. Tampere Tramway’s Pirkkala–Linnainmaa Alliance started construction work on the section in December.
Construction will take place in two parts so that the tramway sections from Sorin aukio to Partola and from Kauppi campus to Niihamaa will be built in the first phase. The aim is to start tramway traffic on these sections in August 2028. The second phase will involve building the sections from Partola to Suupa and from Niihamaa to Linnainmaa. Construction of the second phase is contingent on receiving state support. Tramway traffic to Suupa and Linnainmaa could start in early 2032.
The next step for the tramway is Ylöjärvi. In December, the city boards of Tampere and Ylöjärvi made a decision to start preparation of a project plan. The plan will be prepared during 2025–2027.
– We’re happy to have been able to keep our promise and that neighbouring municipalities also believe in tramway development and expansion. A consumer survey conducted by Tampere Tramway indicates that people are also positive about tramway expansion. We’re prepared to work hard in order to offer reliable and comfortable tramway journeys over an even larger area in the future, says Sirviö.
Further information:
Mayor Kalervo Kummola
City of Tampere
Special Advisor Neea Loimuvirta
Mayor’s Office
firstname.lastname@tampere.fi
Tel. +358 40 543 5412
CEO Pekka Sirviö
Tampere Tramway Ltd.
firstname.lastname@tampereenraitiotie.fi
Tel. +358 3 334 5798
Director Mikko Nurminen
City of Tampere, Urban Environment and Infrastructure Services unit
firstname.lastname@tampere.fi
Tel. +358 40 801 2665
Tampere Tramway planning and construction, sections 1 and 2:
Project Manager Timo Kuusela
Tramway Alliance
firstname.lastname@nrcgroup.fi
Tel. +358 40 866 4796