Järvelä railway station

The Järvelä railway station (Finnish: Järvelän rautatieasema, Swedish: Järvelä järnvägsstation) is located in Kärkölä, Finland, in the municipal seat and urban area of Järvelä. It is located along the Riihimäki–Lahti line, and its neighboring stations are Lappila in the west and Herrala in the east.

Järvelä
VR station
General information
Location	Hähkäniementie 4, 16600 Järvelä, Kärkölä Finland
Coordinates	60°52′03″N 025°16′28″E
Owned by	Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency
Operated by	VR Group
Line(s)	Riihimäki–Lahti railway
Platforms	1 side platform 1 island platform
Tracks	3
Other information
Station code	Jr
Classification	Operating point [1]
History
Opened	1 November 1869 (1869-11-01)
Passengers
2008	12,000 [2]
Services
Preceding station VR commuter rail Following station Lappila towards Riihimäki G Herrala towards Lahti
Route map Legend to Kouvola to Heinola to Loviisa  167  Uudenmaankatu 58.8 Lahti  140  Helsingintie to Salpausselkä 56.1 Hennala  296  Ala-Okeroistentie 48.1 Hakosilta Helsinki 45.8 Tommola 44.4 Herrala  2954  Herralantie  295  Mäntsäläntie 32.2 Järvelä  1431  Sulkavantie 26.3 Lappila 23.2 Jutila  2951  Lammintie 20.0 Mommila 15.4 Oitti  1471  Oitintie 14.8 Hausjärvi freight  290  Hikiäntie 8.3 Hikiä 7.9 Kekomäki 0.0 Riihimäki to Helsinki
Location

History

Järvelä is one of the original stations of the Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway, and was placed on the crossing of the railway and the road between Mäntsälä and the church village of Kärkölä. The class III station building was constructed according to plans from Knut Nylander and was later expanded upon twice, in the 1870s and with an additional western wing, designed by Bruno Granholm, in 1900.

Järvelä quickly began to develop with the arrival of the railway and subsequent industry, and took the place of the municipal seat from the Kärkölä church village in the 1930s. In 1960, Järvelä was home to 1,100 inhabitants; by 2000, the number had increased to 2,800. As of 2018, the population of Järvelä is 2,654.^[3]

The Koskisen Oy sawmill started operating right by the station in 1931; as of 2020, the sawmill and its plywood factory are still active, providing the bulk of the jobs in the municipality. The Koskisen factories regularly receive wood deliveries by rail from Kouvola.

On 18 October 1961, the Railway Administration made the decision to purchase a set of 800 concrete sleepers from abroad, the first of their kind in Finland; in July 1962, they were installed on the section of track between Lappila and Järvelä. The trials were successful, and on 12 June 1963, the first batch of concrete sleepers from Finnish manufacturers was ordered.^[4]

Järvelä became an unmanned station in 1997, and the station building was sold to a private buyer in 2003.^[5] Among the stations on the Riihimäki-Lahti line, Järvelä is an anomaly in that both its passenger and freight transport services continue to operate to this day.

Services

Main article: Helsinki commuter rail § Riihimäki−Lahti Line

Järvleä is an intermediate station on commuter rail line G on the route Riihimäki–Lahti. 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, Järvelä was also served by the unnamed regional trains on the route Helsinki–Riihimäki–Lahti–Kouvola–Kotka Harbour.

References

1. Railway Network Statement 2021 (PDF). Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. 18 June 2020. p. 94. ISBN 978-952-317-744-4. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
2. Henkilöliikennepaikkojen kehittämisohjelma (PDF). Helsinki: Finnish Infrastructure Transport Agency. 2010. ISBN 978-952-255-511-3.
3. Urban settlements by population and population density, 2018. Statistics Finland.
4. Pölhö, Eljas; et al. (1987). Valtionrautatiet 1962–1987 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Finnish Railway Administration. p. 125.
5. Iltanen, Jussi (2009). Radan varrella: Suomen rautatieliikennepaikat (in Finnish). ISBN 978-951-593-214-3.