1982: The Initial Trial Run for a Helsinki Metro Station that has Since Achieved Pop Culture Fame

June 1, 1982

A little over two months before the Helsinki Metro was officially inaugurated, Hakaniemi station became one of a few stations of that rapid transit system to be opened to the public for test drives of trains during the morning and afternoon rush hours.

Hakaniemi station is named for an area within the Kallio district of Finland’s capital city. This station was designed by architects Mirja Marketta Castrén (1930-2014), Juhani Jauhiainen (born in 1934), and Maja Nuuttila-Helenius (1932-2016).

The other stations besides Hakaniemi metro station to be used for test drives starting on June 1, 1982, were Itäkeskus, Siilitie, Herttoniemi, and Kulosaari metro stations. The Helsinki Metro – the northernmost public transportation network of its kind in the world – was formally opened on August 2, 1982, by Mauno Koivisto (1923-2017), who had become president of Finland on January 27 of that year and would serve in the position until 1994.

Hakaniemi metro station has since achieved at least a couple of pop culture claims to fame. This station appears in the 1985 film Calamari Union, a surreal comedy that was written, directed, and produced by Aki Kaurismäki (born in 1957). Hakaniemi metro station is featured as well in the 2019 music video for Freestyler, a hit single performed by the hip hop group Bomfunk MC’s.

Photo Credit: Roopeank (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Roopeank) – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

For more information on Hakaniemi metro station, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakaniemi_metro_station

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