Tampere Central Station

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Tampere Tammerfors
VR station
Tampere railway station, July 2013.
General information
Location	Rautatienkatu 25, 33100 Tampere Finland
Coordinates	61°29′54.5″N 023°46′23″E / 61.498472°N 23.77306°E / 61.498472; 23.77306
Owned by	Finnish Transport Agency
Tracks	5
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Other information
Fare zone	A
History
Opened	1876
Electrified	Yes
Passengers
2018	5.25 million[1]
Services Preceding station VR commuter rail Following station Lempäälä towards Helsinki R Terminus Lempäälä towards Toijala M Tesoma towards Nokia Preceding station VR Group Following station Terminus Tampere–Pori Nokia towards Pori Tampere–Seinäjoki Parkano towards Seinäjoki Tampere–Haapamäki Orivesi towards Haapamäki Toijala towards Helsinki Helsinki–Kolari (overnight service) Parkano towards Kolari Helsinki–Kemijärvi (overnight service) Parkano towards Kemijärvi

Tampere Central Station is a functionalist building in Tampere, Finland, designed by Eero Seppälä and Otto Flodin, completed in 1936. The station is one of the most important railway stations in Finland. In 2015, the Tampere Central Station was the second busiest railway station in Finland in terms of numbers of passengers, after the Helsinki Central Station.^[2]

The 36-metre clock tower was later added because the Finnish railway bureau required it (its total height from ground level is about 50 metres). The city's main street Hämeenkatu begins at the railway station, continuing over the Hämeensilta bridge to its western end at the Aleksanteri Church. The Itsenäisyydenkatu (originally called Puolimatkankatu) street begins at the Tammela side of the station, continuing to the Kaleva Church.^[3]

Situated in a central location, the station and its railway yard have served as divisors of the city's districts almost in the same way as Tammerkoski: Tamperean places are often located by saying which side of the station they are on.

For decades, there has been discussion of a unified travel centre in Tampere: currently, the long-distance bus terminal, the Tampere Bus Station, is quite far away from the railway station.

There are currently three platforms in the Tampere railway station, two of which have a roof. There are five tracks in total, but there are plans to add a fourth platform, making seven tracks in total.

The Tampere cargo station is located south from the passenger station. It includes one of the busiest railway organisation yards in Finland. The green building on the east side of the tracks, opposite the old passenger station is the old cargo station. A track leads from the cargo station, over the highway to Helsinki, to the Nekala district, which previously contained many private tracks servicing stock companies. Nowadays, some of the tracks have been disassembled and some are disused. The starting point of the track is used to store train carriages.