Turku - Transport

Transport

For a city of its size, Turku has a moderate public transport network of bus routes, which is comparable to bus network of similar-sized Tampere. The bus network is managed and supervised by the City of Turku Public Transport Office (Finnish: Turun joukkoliikennetoimisto, Swedish: Åbo kollektivtrafikkontor), and is operated mainly by private companies. Regional buses are operated by private companies, most importantly TLO, with very frequent services especially to the neighbouring cities of Naantali, Raisio, and Kaarina.

Rail traffic to and from Turku is handled by the Finnish national carrier, VR. The number of services has fallen and only the railways towards Tampere and Helsinki are now in use. The railway stations currently used for passenger traffic are the Turku Central railway station in Pohjola, and two smaller stations in Kupittaa and the Port of Turku.

There is no local rail traffic at the moment, as the city's popular tram services were discontinued in 1972, and the various local railway lines to neighbouring towns and municipalities were all abolished during the late 20th century. However, there are plans for a light rail system in the Turku region in the near future. This system would more ably serve major suburbs of the city such as Varissuo and Runosmäki, as well as the neighbouring cities.

The State of Finland has announced plans to support Espoo with 30% of full expenses on a new metro rail, the Regional Council of Southwest Finland is going to use this as a test case for a new light rail network in Turku.:

The Turku Bus Station and the Turku Central Railway Station are currently located in different places. The City of Turku is planning to combine these two in a new greater station complex in the near future. This new travel center will consist of a hotel and several shopping estates. This center will connect all public transportation from commuter trains to long distance buses.

Turku Airport is located eight kilometres to the north of the city centre, partly in the neighbouring municipality of Rusko.

There are also daily ferry services from the Port of Turku to Sweden and the Åland Islands, operated by Silja Line, Viking Line and SeaWind Line. These are something of a Finnish cultural tradition (see ruotsinlaiva), and people often travel long distances across Finland to Turku just to take a cruise across the Gulf of Bothnia.

The archipelago sea boat traffic is handled by, among others, S/S Ukkopekka. Old steamship cruise Turku-Naantali-Turku.

Turku is the only city in Finland to have three long-distance railway stations: Turku Central, Port of Turku, and Kupittaa.