KONE wins order to equip second phase of Finland's West Metro extension

KONE Corporation, press release, September 24, 2018

KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, has won an order to supply elevators and escalators for the second phase of one of Finland's biggest infrastructure projects, the West Metro extension in the Helsinki metropolitan area. KONE also delivered solutions for the first phase of the project, where the metro line was extended westward from Helsinki into the neighboring city of Espoo. The second phase will add a further seven kilometers of metro line and five new underground stations on the Espoo side of the line.

KONE will deliver 27 KONE MonoSpace® elevators, four new-generation KONE inclined elevators, and 42 KONE TransitMaster(TM) 140 escalators to West Metro. All the equipment has been designed for heavy public transport use, and the elevators can also be used in case of fire.

"Many of the technical requirements of the West Metro are not visible to passengers. The elevators and escalators are visible, and they are an important part of the metro journey, the customer experience and accessibility at the stations," says Länsimetro Oy Chief Executive Officer Ville Saksi.
Länsimetro Oy is the main developer of the project.

The West Metro will also use the cloud-based KONE 24/7 Connected Services maintenance solution. Utilizing the IBM Watson built on IBM Cloud platform and other advanced technologies, it monitors, analyzes and displays in real time vast amounts of data gathered by sensors connected to elevators and escalators. This means less equipment downtime, fewer faults, and the availability of detailed information on maintenance work.

"Thanks to our newest solutions, we can offer increasingly better value to the West Metro and increasingly smoother people flow for the people using the metro. We are pleased to be able to use the know-how gained through our extensive experience of major infrastructure projects around the world at the new West Metro stations," says Thomas Hinnerskov, executive vice president, KONE Central and North Europe.

The installation of elevators and escalators is scheduled to begin at the end of 2019. The second phase of the new metro line is expected to be completed during 2023.

KONE booked the order in the third quarter of 2018.