Travel in Finland

Today, Helsinki is the only city in Finland to have streetcars or subway trains. There used to be two other cities in Finland with streetcar traffic: Turku and Viipuri (Vyborg). However, Turku abandoned trams in 1972 and Viipuri (at that time already part of the Soviet Union) abandoned them in 1957.

The subway line, opened in 1982, was the first, and so far the only, subway line in all of Finland. For the first 16 years of its existence, the line was topologically only one straight line, but in 1998 a fork was added at Itäkeskus metro station, dividing the remainder of the line into two branches with three stations in each. The subway system is a very important method of transportation for commuters in the growing suburbs of Eastern Helsinki, and there are plans to further expand the system to Espoo (see Länsimetro). Due to the lack of agreement over financing, the project has subsequently been delayed. Some have suggested light-rail as an alternative to the metro. If the plans for automation in the system are approved, the subway will operate without drivers in 2010.

Air traffic is handled from the international Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and Malmi Airport. Helsinki-Vantaa airport is Finland's global gateway with scheduled non-stop flights to such places as Bangkok, Beijing, Guangzhou, Nagoya, New York, Osaka, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Helsinki has an optimal location for great circle airline traffic routes between Western Europe and the Far East. The airport is located approximately 19 kilometers north of Helsinki's downtown area, in the neighbouring city of Vantaa, hence the name Helsinki-Vantaa.

M/S Silja Symphony leaving from Helsinki.Ferry connections to Tallinn and Stockholm are serviced by various companies, including Silja Line, Viking Line, SeaWind Line, Linda Line, Nordic Jet Line and Tallink (see Ruotsinlaiva). Finnlines passenger-freight ferries to Travemünde, Germany are also available. Copterline provides fast helicopter flights to Tallinn.