Water Damage Expected to Reach Millions of Euros

However officials say the full extent of the damage is not yet known. HKL CEO Matti Lahdenranta said that on Monday the company will be in a better position to determine the state of the escalator, for example.

Restoration operations continued from Sunday evening into Monday morning at downtown Helsinki’s Railway station metro stop. Work focused on evacuating the water that accumulated after a water main ruptured on Sunday.

Officials say there were hundreds or even thousands of cubic metres of water in the station tunnel and boarding platform, while the water in the tunnel’s exit shaft was several metres deep.

Water was deepest in the shaft between the Railway Station stop and the Kaisanieni metro station. During the night water was pumped past Kaisaniemi towards the Hakaniemi and Kamppi pumping stations. The pumping station at the Railway Square broke down during the pumping operations, which enlisted scores of fire officials.

Broken Main in Front of the Station

The burst main which caused the transportation breakdown was traced Sunday evening to the front entrance of the Railway station. The broken main was closed at the stopcock, however officials have not been able to repair the rupture.

Fire officials say that the rupture is located on the bend of the iron pipes, which were laid down some forty years ago, when the station tunnel was constructed. On Sunday the Helsinki Water Company said that the pipe had broken loose from its anchor, allowing water to leak out.

The broken main disrupted water supplies to consumers in the area, but service will be completely restored by Monday evening.