A commuter train at Kirkkonummi railway station on 8 December 2025. Kirkkonummi’s municipal council did not approve the shareholder agreement for Länsirata Oy. Photo: Emmi Korhonen / Lehtikuva
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Kirkkonummi’s municipal council has voted against the proposed shareholder agreement for Länsirata Oy, the company responsible for building a new high-speed rail line between Helsinki and Turku. The vote, held on 8 December, ended 36–15 in favour of rejecting the agreement.
The decision means Kirkkonummi will not commit to financing the first construction phase of the €1.32 billion project, which aims to cut travel times and improve rail capacity in southern Finland.
Despite the rejection, the municipality expressed conditional willingness to allocate €15 million to fund a local rail stop in Veikkola, provided specific planning and legal conditions are met.
The council stipulated that funding for Veikkola station will be contingent on the legal confirmation of the partial master plan for the Northern Kirkkonummi transport corridor and its related rail plan. Additionally, a detailed cost responsibility chart must be drawn up for all road and infrastructure works related to the station area.
Kirkkonummi also requires that any future participation in the shareholder agreement reflects its local investment fairly and proportionally in the company’s financing structure. It emphasised the need for a full assessment of all long-term operational costs and their impact on the municipal budget before committing to any part of the project.
Kirkkonummi’s share of the project’s funding would have been the smallest among participating municipalities. Under the agreement, the municipality would have committed up to €15 million in capital and 1.24 percent of the cost burden from the state’s external debt or equivalent financing for Länsirata Oy.
The decision followed a recommendation by the municipal board, which voted 8–5 to reject the agreement last week. The board’s position, while not binding, influenced the council vote.
So far, the cities of Turku, Espoo, and Vihti have approved the shareholder agreement. Votes in Salo and Lohja are expected in the coming days. Salo’s city board has already endorsed the agreement by a 9–3 margin, with a final vote in its council due on 15 December.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has stated that the rail project will continue despite Kirkkonummi’s rejection. The Länsirata line, often referred to as the “One-Hour Train,” is intended to shorten the Helsinki–Turku journey and increase rail capacity across southern Finland. The first phase includes construction of a new rail section between Espoo and Lohja.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
