Hikiä railway station explained

Hikiä
Type:VR station
Style:VR Group
Address:Sepäntie, 12240
Borough:Hikiä, Hausjärvi
Country:Finland
Coordinates:60.7536°N 24.9231°W
Owned:Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency
Operator:VR Group
Line:Riihimäki–Lahti railway
Platforms:2 side platforms
Tracks:2
Architect:Knut Nylander
Code:Hk
Classification:Halt [1]
Passengers:5,000 [2]
Pass Year:2008
Map State:collapsed
Mapframe:y
Mapframe-Zoom:13

The Hikiä railway station (Finnish: Hikiän rautatieasema, Swedish: Hikiä järnvägsstation) is located in Hausjärvi, Finland, in the village and urban area of Hikiä. It is located along the RiihimäkiLahti line, and its neighboring stations are Riihimäki in the west and Oitti in the east.

History

Hikiä is one of the original intermediate stations of the Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway, and was opened for passenger traffic in November 1869. It was placed on the crossing between the railway and the road between Nurmijärvi and the church of Hausjärvi. The railway played a significant role in the development of Hikiä, helping it overtake the Hausjärvi church village in population. In 1960 Hikiä had 700 inhabitants, compared to 200 of the Hausjärvi church village.[3] Hikiä's population in 2018 was 1,068.[4]

Hikiä became an unmanned station in 1976 and its freight traffic was abolished in 1991. In 2005, its platforms were rebuilt and moved approximately 100m (300feet) to the east towards Lahti, which made it possible to replace the former cross-platform pedestrian level crossing with the overpass on regional road 290.[3]

Architecture

The station building in Hikiä was built according to stock plans for class IV stations on the Riihimäki–St. Petersburg line, designed by Knut Nylander. Construction was completed in 1869, and the building was later expanded in two phases in 1883 and 1904, using the same plans drawn by Bruno Granholm for the extensions of the Lappila station in 1876 and 1900. As per a railyard diagram dating to 1873, the Hikiä station at the time also included a warehouse and a water tower at the end of a siding stretching from the far eastern end from the railyard, as well as two additional sidings to its south.

The Hikiä station and its related buildings were transferred into the possession of Senate Properties in 2007.[3]

Services

See main article: article. Hikiä is an intermediate station on VR commuter rail line on the route RiihimäkiLahti.[5] Westbound trains towards Riihimäki stop at track 1 and eastbound ones towards Lahti use track 2. Prior to the opening of the Kerava-Lahti railway line, Hikiä was also served by the unnamed regional trains on the route Helsinki–Riihimäki–Lahti–KouvolaKotka Harbour.

A VR ticket vending machine, as well as 55cm (22inches) high platforms enabling accessible entry to low-floor trains, are present at the station.[6]

External links

References

  1. Book: Railway Network Statement 2021 . Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency . 93 . 18 June 2020 . 978-952-317-744-4 . 20 September 2020 . 1 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201001183729/https://julkaisut.vayla.fi/pdf12/vj_2019-46eng_vs2021_web.pdf . dead .
  2. Book: 2010 . Henkilöliikennepaikkojen kehittämisohjelma . Helsinki . Finnish Infrastructure Transport Agency . 978-952-255-511-3 . 2020-09-17 . 2020-10-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201001183732/https://julkaisut.vayla.fi/pdf3/raportti_2010_henkiloliikennepaikkojen_kehittamisohjelma_web.pdf . dead .
  3. Book: Iltanen, Jussi . Radan varrella: Suomen rautatieliikennepaikat . fi . 978-951-593-214-3.
  4. http://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11s8.px/ Urban settlements by population and population density, 2018
  5. Web site: August 2021. Reittikartat: Lähijunaliikenne. 18 October 2021. Helsinki Regional Transport Authority. en, fi, sv.
  6. Web site: Hikiä railway station. 18 October 2021. VR.fi. VR Group.