Turku Tramway highlights role of carbon assessment in light rail development
The latest Flow on Rails webinar explored the development of Finland’s Turku Tramway and an innovative approach to assessing its environmental impact, with UKTram attending this week.
Flow on Rails is a webinar series hosted by Light Rail Day, focusing on light rail projects and developments from across the Nordic region and Europe. The September 7th session, From vote to tracks – Development of Turku’s Tramway, provided an update on the project following the city council’s decision to proceed with the tramway.
Lauri Räty, Design Manager at Turku Tramway Limited, described the proposed route, timeline and design principles, with construction planned in two stages and the tramway currently expected to open in 2033.
Along with adding new transport capacity, Turku intends to use the tram corridor to reconfigure streets and public spaces, improve walking and cycling links as well as direct future urban development toward high-capacity public transport. The project is currently estimated to cost €465 million at August 2025 price levels, with a further €65–75 million estimated for tram vehicles and a 15-year maintenance contract.
Taina Haapamäki, Founder and Managing Director of Flow Oy, presented a carbon handprint study for the European Investment Bank. The study compared the tramway with an improved trunk-bus option over 35 years, assessing each option's carbon impact throughout its lifecycle.
The study identified a positive carbon handprint for the tramway of around 420g CO₂e per inhabitant each year. Importantly, the analysis also considered how the tramway could influence where people live and travel, with the tram scenario attracting more people and development towards accessible areas along the corridor and reducing traffic emissions per inhabitant.
For UKTram, the approach provided an interesting example of how environmental evidence can help inform decision-making around new light rail schemes.
Phill Terry, UKTram Lead Engineer, said:
“The webinar was interesting and showed how Nordic cities can develop light rail schemes over a period of time, generally getting Government and council approval and funding through the use of extensive economic and environmental data and future use statistics, creating the decision to proceed with an economically viable transportation system able to deal with the proposed city's growth.”
UKTram will continue to follow the Turku Tramway's development as the project moves toward construction and its planned opening in 2033.
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