HELSINKI CROWN BRIDGES LIGHT RAIL (EIB-20220314)

Countries
  • Finland
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Helsinki
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • European Investment Bank (EIB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
May 24, 2024
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
City of Helsinki
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Transport
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 434.14 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 400
Converted using 2024-05-24 exchange rate.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 1,083.18 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 998
Converted using 2024-05-24 exchange rate.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EIB website

Updated in EWS Jun 9, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Mar 1, 2024

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the project consists of the works and installations for the construction of the Crown Bridges light rail line in the City of Helsinki with a total length of c. 8 kilometres, the construction of a new depot in Ruskeasuo area to host the trainsets needed for the operation of the tramline. This deport will accommodate up to 100 trams and will have also parking facilities in the roof for about 220 buses (which are not part of this project) and the acquisition of related rolling stock and ancillary works relating to the light rail line, with a surface of c.30,000 sq.m. In particular, the project includes the construction of 3 new bridges and will also comprise the purchase of approx. 23 new tram sets 35 m-long. The new infrastructure will provide new facilities along the corridor for cyclists and pedestrians.

The Crown Bridges light rail will connect the suburbs of Laajasalo, Korkeasaari and Kalasatama to Helsinki city centre. It will also provide a new route for cyclists and pedestrians.

The aim is to support investments in sustainable urban public transport. The new light rail line will provide a direct and segregated link to the city centre, which will reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (transport externalities) as well as travel times.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Negative environmental impacts: Most identified negative impacts during project execution are temporary ones, and mitigation measures are proposed to reduce the final impact, as such the
residual negative impacts of the project are deemed acceptable by the competent authority. The main identified negative impacts produced during construction phase are gas emissions by the heavy plant machinery, traffic disruptions nearby the construction sites, contamination of sea water during bridges construction phase -including dredging-, volumes of excavated material to be disposed, noise levels and the impact on the green areas (while these are limited areas) affected by the works, to be restored. During the future operation of the tramline, noise and vibrations due to the trains running is likely to be the worst negative impact. This can be considered very located and limited in time. To minimise the noise and vibrations of the trains accelerating and breaking, the track works are design to absorb and mitigate them. Construction of the foundations for the bridges (for the abutments and piers) will have a negative impact on the sea waters of the estuary the tramline flies over. This impact -mainly water pollution and disruptions to the fauna in the area- is considered temporary and limited in time and space. 

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Responsible for the project:
City of Helsinki, Agency for Urban Planning, PL 2100
00099 CITY OF HELSINKI
Geographical address: Kansa schoolkatu 3, 00100
Helsinki

Contact point:
Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the
Environment of Uusimaa
Casualty of station manager 14
00520 HELSINKI

Contact persons at the Helsinki City Planning Authority:
Eija Kivilaakso, no.stone valley(a)hel.fi tel. 09 310 37247
Kaarina Laakso, in arc. Valley(a)hel.fi tel. 09 310 37250
Juha-Pekka Turunen, Juha-peak.Tel. 09 310 37403

Contact person at the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Uusimaa:
senior Inspector Martti Fellow fabric
tel. 0295 021 000

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/registers/request-form/request-form-default.htm

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EIB

The EIB Complaints Mechanism is designed to facilitate and handle complaints against the EIB by individuals, organizations or corporations affected by EIB activities. When exercising the right to lodge a complaint against the EIB, any member of the public has access to a two-tier procedure, one internal - the Complaints Mechanism Office - and one external - the European Ombudsman. A complaint can be lodged via a written communication addressed to the Secretary General of the EIB, via email to the dedicated email address: complaints@eib.org, by completing the online complaint form available at the following address: http://www.eib.org/complaints/form via fax or delivered directly to the EIB Complaints Mechanism Division, any EIB local representation office or any EIB staff. For further details, check: http://www.eib.org/attachments/strategies/complaints_mechanism_policy_en.pdf

When dissatisfied with a complaint to the EIB Complaints Mechanism, citizens can then turn towards the European Ombudsman. A memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the EIB and the European Ombudsman establishes that citizens (even outside of the EU if the Ombudsman finds their complaint justified) can turn towards the Ombudsman on issues related to 'maladministration' by the EIB. Note that before going to the Ombudsman, an attempt must be made to resolve the case by contacting the EIB. In addition, the complaint must be made within two years of the date when the facts on which your complaint is based became known to you. You can write to the Ombudsman in any of the languages of the European Union. Additional details, including filing requirements and complaint forms, are available at: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/atyourservice/interactiveguide.faces

How it works

How it works