Helsinki is the capital city of Finland, situated on a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland. The tramway (‘raitiotie’ in Finnish) began in 1891 and covers the city centre and the inner suburbs to the north of it. Starting with horse-drawn trams, the system was electrified in 1900 and by 1930 it had reached its maximum expansion and was privately operated. In 1945 a new municipal transport operator was formed, HKL (Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos), that still runs the trams in 2017.
At the time of our filming in May 2017, the fleet was made up of some 40 high-floor trams manufactured by the Finnish company Valmet, (Nr I type) and 42 similar vehicles of the Valmet Nr II type. These trams have a low-floor section added. In the late 1990s, 40 low-floor Variotram vehicles arrived made by Adtranz, later to become Bombardier. The newer trams are Transtech Artics and are made by the Finnish company Transtech, the successor of the Valmet company. Further newer trams are manufactured by Skoda but to the same design as the Transtech cars.
This film is made in the course of a day, starting in the morning and ending late at night in this land of the midnight sun! Our morning filming begins onboard tram 99 a Valmet NrII tram that takes us to Ooppera on the long Mannerheimintie thoroughfare. A good deal of filming is done on Mannerheimintie as this road makes its way through the city with plenty of good vantage points to see the trams (and buses) in action. We see the latest fully electric bus built by Linkker on route 23 at the railway station. There are four in service, which are operated by Helsinki City Transport (HKL), having entered traffic in January 2017. We also see the trams running past the delightful architecture of the railway station. In order to view the tramway system to its best advantage we take a number of tram rides on different types of tram on various routes. From the city centre we board tram 120 on route 10 to Pikku Huopalahti and return on tram 108 to Töölön halli in order to visit the small Tramway Museum that is situated behind the Töölön tram depot. We then take a ride on tram 99 on route 4 from Ooppera to Katajanokka. From here we return to Töölön halli to connect with tram 410 to ride to Kamppi on route 2. From here we ride on tram 229 on route 2/3 to Viiskulma for more filming in this pleasant suburb. Tram 55, a Valmet Nr I, on route 1A takes us to Olympialaituri where we see the trams in the company of large ocean-going liners at this busy sea terminal. We then film at Kauppatori, Aleksanterinkatu and Mannerheimintie. Further tram rides on routes 6T and 8 show us the suburbs of Arabianranta and Rouholati.
Evening filming begins at Kanavakatu Tove and continues to the city centre to capture the action as the sun sets during the long twilight hours. We hope that you have enjoyed your journeys around Finland’s capital city as much as we did filming it for you!
Produced by - Independent Transport Videos
Running time - 83 minutes (approx)
Format - 16:9 Widescreen
DVD only
Release date - October 2017
Brighton & Hove Buses 2017
It is some six years since the independent transport videos cameras visited the Sussex coastal resort of Brighton to record the bus scene. A good deal has changed making the contemporary bus scene just as enjoyable in 2017 as it was in 2011. In 2017 the bus services are still chiefly in the hands of the Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company which is part of the GoAhead group. We also see buses from Stagecoach, Compass Bus, The Big Lemon and Metrobus, as each company operate services into and out of the city. This programme covers two visits our cameras made to the city, the first in April and the second in July 2017. We begin filming at Old Steine where we see the spectacular lime green and mid-blue liveried, Wrightbus StreetDeck double-deckers operating the frequent route 12 group of services that run along the coast connecting Brighton with Eastbourne. We continue filming around Old Steine and view most types of the contemporary Brighton & Hove fleet as well as the Enviro400 double-deckers of Stagecoach on the frequent 700 Coastliner service that links Brighton with Portsmouth to the west. Our cameras then move to Castle Square, North Street and the busy Churchill Square. Look out for the new low-height Wrightbus StreetDeck double-deckers on service 1 and the silver liveried Wrightbus StreetDeck demonstrator, numbered 293 (SN64 CTU). We also see the Volvo B9TL Wrightbus Gemini 2 double-deckers in the smart purple/maroon and buff livery that operate on the Regency route linking Tunbridge Wells with the city. Filming continues along Queens Road and York Place to the Railway Station to catch up with the action at this busy interchange. St George’s Place, Gloucester Place and Grand Parade are our next locations where we view the buses as they go about their business. Further filming along Pavilion Parade and Old Steine takes us to Marine Parade where we catch up with the action here. We see the Coasters running alongside the red and cream liveried buses in the Brighton & Hove fleet. Our April visit concludes with filming on Eastern Road and Edward Street as well as catching up with the evening rush at Old Steine, North Street and Churchill Square. Look out for the former GHA Coaches Volvo B7RLE, a Wrightbus Eclipse Urban, registered BA58 GHA now with Compass Bus. Our cameras return to the city on a hot day in July 2017. Again our locations are similar to the April visit taking in Old Steine, Castle Square, North Street, the Railway Station area and Churchill Square. Now it is time to sample the Coaster service! We board 940 (BX15 ONS) a Wrightbus StreetDeck with a H81F body for a ride along the coast to Seaford Library on service 12X. We pass a number of similar vehicles as they head towards Brighton. At Seaford we film the action on Sutton Park Road, Station Approach and Clinton Place. Our cameras then return to Brighton on board 925 (BX15 OMY) arriving at Marine Parade. Our final scenes are at Old Steine where we also see the solar powered Optare Solo of the Big Lemon company, YK55 ENM, together with buses from Stagecoach and of course Brighton & Hove buses. We hope you enjoy your visit.
