Helsinki Central Station

On 4 January 2010 at the Helsinki Central Station, four empty passenger carriages overran the buffers of platform 13. The carriages had broken free of their train during a shunting manoeuvre and ran under gravity down the gentle hill from Linnunlaulu before being diverting into an empty platform and impacting the buffers at 20–30 kilometres per hour.The eight-carriage train arriving from the depot had been due to form the 08:12 departure running from Helsinki to Kajaani, through central Finland via Lahti and Kuopio. The formation which broke away consisted of three double-decker "Intercity 2" carriages, followed by a single-decker restaurant car. The runaway carriages were quickly detected and deliberately routed into one of the shorter commuter platforms (fitted with large concrete barriers beyond the buffers) in order to minimise damage to the main station area. Passengers aboard an adjacent commuter train waiting to depart were ordered to leave their train and run away from the area and announcements were made over the station's loudspeaker system. The first carriage of the four runaway cars mounted the concrete barrier. Members of the public in an Ernst & Young office beyond the end of the platform and those in the Holiday Inn hotel above the platforms all escaped without injury. The first carriage then struck the hotel's conference room, causing extensive damage to the room. The conductor aboard the train as it came in sustained light injuries to their arm, with nobody else injured.Services had resumed—at a reduced level by the afternoon—following repairs to damage to the overhead line. The Finnish Accident Investigation Board announced that they would proceed with an investigation into why the brakes had not automatically applied. A restaurant car and one of the passenger carriages were towed to the depot by a diesel locomotive during the course of the night, after which the front carriage was partially dragged back out of the hotel building. The building that had taken the force of the crash was deemed to be structurally sound.On 18 January 2010 the Finnish Accident Investigation Board made available their interim report which concluded that the incident had been caused by a combination of bad weather and then human error. Initially, snow and ice had caused the front carriages to detach from the rest of the train; followed by the guard having released the brakes manually—not realizing that the two halves of the train were no longer coupled.

Kaisantunneli (Swedish: Kajsatunneln) is a tunnel for bicycle and pedestrian use in central Helsinki, Finland, serving as the main east–west cycling thoroughfare in the city centre. The tunnel is located directly underneath the Central Station, and joins the city's eastern and western cycling routes, cutting previous travel distance around the station by up to 600 metres (2,000 ft) and avoiding several sets of traffic lights, as well as removing much of the cycle traffic from the busy Kaivokatu street. Its western end connects directly to the Baana cycle path. The width of the tunnel is split roughly 50:50 between pedestrian and cycling lanes. The tunnel allows direct access to the station platforms, and connects with the separate pedestrian-only tunnel under the station. Additional cycle park for 900 bikes, as well as bike servicing facilities, will be opened in the tunnel later. Construction of the tunnel began in spring 2021 and was expected to be complete in autumn 2023, but in the end the tunnel opened to the public on 4 May 2024. The construction was especially challenging, on account of some old masonry and timber support structures underpinning the station, which were only discovered after construction had already begun. The construction cost c. EUR 33m, with the final figure exceeding the budget by some EUR 10m. The tunnel is expected to be used by up to 10,000 cyclists daily.

Kaivokatu (Swedish: Brunnsgatan) is a short street in central Helsinki, Finland. It runs past the Central Station and station square, connecting Mannerheimintie in the west with Mikonkatu in the east (after which the road continues as Kaisaniemenkatu). Towards its eastern end is located the Ateneum art museum of the Finnish National Gallery. Kaivokatu carries heavy road traffic, forming the link between the main thoroughfares in and out of the city, eastbound via Hämeentie and westbound via Mannerheimintie, as well as several tram and bus routes. To reduce its traffic load, the City Council decided in 2023 to comprehensively rebuild the Kaivokatu area in 2026–2027, as part of which the street will be closed to private cars and remain open to only public transport, bicycles and pedestrians, a controversial plan which received plenty of attention and vocal resistance as well as support. The street gets its name, which literally means "well street" from the 19th-century Kluuvi well (Globrunnen), located on what is now the corner of Kaivokatu and Keskuskatu. The name in Finnish was first attested in 1866, and made official in 1909. Underneath the western end of Kaivokatu is the underground shopping centre Asematunneli, and below that, the Central Railway Station metro station of the Helsinki Metro.

The Central Railway Station metro station (Finnish: Rautatientorin metroasema, Swedish: Järnvägstorgets metrostation) is a station on the Helsinki Metro. The entrance is located in the Asematunneli main hall, which has an exit to the Helsinki Central Railway Station. It is among the only Helsinki Metro stations whose names are announced in English, in addition to Finnish and Swedish. As one of the original metro stations, Central Railway Station was opened on 1 July 1982 and was designed by Rolf Björkstam, Erkki Heino, and Eero Kostiainen. It is located 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) from Kamppi metro station, and 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi) from University of Helsinki metro station. The station is situated at a depth of 27 metres (89 ft) below ground level and 22 metres (72 ft) below sea level. On 8 November 2009 a water main burst, flooding and causing significant damage to the underground station complex. On February 15, 2010 the station reopened for public use.

Asematunneli (Swedish: Stationstunneln) is an underground shopping center connecting the Helsinki Central railway station and City-Center in downtown Helsinki, Finland. The area also has a ticket sales area for the Rautatientori metro station and connections to the nearby Forum shopping mall as well as Stockmann and Sokos department stores. The shops and supermarkets in Asematunneli are licensed to stay open longer than normal as well as during the national holidays, making the shopping center an important location for last minute and emergency shopping for the people of the greater Helsinki area. Kamppi Center and the bottom floor of Sähkötalo across Fredrikinkatu can also be accessed via tunnels by going through the Forum shopping mall first. The interconnecting areas provide for convenient movement across a wide area of central Helsinki, and allow pedestrians to escape the rain, snow, and cold weather that dominate much of the Finnish calendar. Asematunneli was built by digging up Kaivokatu and pouring concrete canopies for the tunnels in 1966–1967.

The Eliel Square (Finnish: Elielinaukio, Swedish: Elielplatsen) is a square on the west side of the Helsinki Central Station in the heart of Helsinki, Finland. It is named after the railway station designer Eliel Saarinen. The square is for the most part the departure and arrival platforms for regional buses. At the northern end of the square is the Holiday Inn Hotel and at the southern end is the restaurant Vltava. On the west side are the Main Post Office and Sanomatalo. On the other side of the river there is also another square, the Railway Square, which together with the Eliel Square forms a so-called open pair.

The City-Center was a plan to raze and rebuild the block between the central Helsinki streets of Kaivokatu, Keskuskatu and Aleksanterinkatu, creating a unified, modern appearance for the area. The plan was originally drafted between 1958 and 1960 by Viljo Revell; Heikki Castrén continued work on the plan after Revell's death in 1964. The fulfillment of the plan would have required the demolition of several old buildings that are today considered to be a vital part of Helsinki's heritage. The only part of the plan that was implemented as planned is the 1967 office and shopping centre building right across the street from the Helsinki Central railway station, popularly known as Makkaratalo, Finnish for "sausage house": the elevated parking lot occupying the third floor is encircled by a decorative railing which is said to resemble a sausage. The first occurrence of the name was in a caricature drawn by the Finnish cartoonist Kari Suomalainen in Helsingin Sanomat. In the cartoon, a man is buying food from a snack bar near the Makkaratalo. He points at the railing, and the snack bar vendor replies, "Well, I'm just a small-time businessman."Today, the term "City-Center" refers to the entire shopping complex consisting of the Makkaratalo, various older properties, and the pathways connecting them to the adjacent streets. However, the term is rarely used and is unfamiliar even to most natives of Helsinki.The Finnish real estate company Sponda bought the City-Center in 2000 and has extensively renovated it. The building is currently protected by Finland's National Board of Antiquities as part of the city's heritage. In 2005 a decision was made to place the building under protection, allowing removal of the car-ramps but not the "sausage".The Helsingin kaupunginmuseo (Helsinki city Museum Bureau) also concluded in a written statement that The Makkaratalo reflects the Finnish ideology of planning in the 60's, e.g., the view that the city of Helsinki should prepare for a wider use of cars as part of becoming a modern metropolis. It is also a prime example of Viljo Revell's work. In the view of the Helsinkian, the Makkaratalo presents the perspective of everyday life. It has become a vital part of the Helsinki cityscape and a part of the collective memory of Helsinkians. However, this view can not be considered to be widespread in Helsinki. The Makkaratalo is commonly considered an eyesore. There have been several public statements about its ugliness, considering its very central place. For instance, the former leader of the National Board of Antiquities has stated that he considers the building an ugly error in judgement in city-planning, and would not oppose its demolition. The Makkaratalo also topped a 2004 poll by Helsingin Sanomat as the ugliest building in Helsinki. It was also featured in a 2005 series in Helsingin Sanomat about the oddest construction plans in the rapid growth of the 1960s.

Vltava is the largest Czech restaurant in Finland, located in central Helsinki. It was opened in spring 2005 to a Jugend architecture building protected by the Finnish National Board of Antiquities, located on the Elielinaukio square, between the Helsinki Central railway station and the main building of the Finnish post office. The name of the restaurant comes from the Vltava river (Moldau in German), running through Prague and the Czech Republic. The restaurant is owned by HOK-Elanto.

Hercules is a gay bar and nightclub in Helsinki, Finland. Operating since 2000, it is the third establishment opened by Moek Trading Oy, a partnership between restaurateurs Erkki Koski and Mika Olkkonen. Hercules caters primarily to gay men over 30, and its live entertainment features drag queens and strippers. The bar was located in Helsinki's Kamppi neighborhood until the end of 2015, when a hotel took over its space. It subsequently reopened at an address in Etu-Töölö, where it endured a number of events that caused financial strain. That location closed in December 2020, when the building was sold to new owners. The club then reopened across the street from Helsinki's central railway station in October 2021. Critics generally describe Hercules as popular, edgy and welcoming.

The Finnish National Theatre (Finnish: Suomen Kansallisteatteri), established in 1872, is a theatre located in central Helsinki on the northern side of the Helsinki Central Railway Station Square. The Finnish National Theatre is the oldest Finnish speaking professional theatre in Finland. It was known as the Finnish Theatre until 1902, when it was renamed the Finnish National Theatre. For the first thirty years of its existence, the theatre functioned primarily as a touring company. The theatre did not acquire a permanent home until 1902, when a purpose-built structure was erected in the heart of Helsinki, adjacent to the city's main railway station. The building hosting the Finnish National Theatre today was completed in 1902 and designed by architect Onni Tarjanne in the National Romantic style, inspired by romantic nationalism. The theatre still operates in these premises today, and over the years the building has expanded from its original size to encompass another three permanent stages. In addition to the Main Stage (Suuri näyttämö), the theatre comprises the Small Stage (Pieni näyttämö) built in 1954 (by architects Heikki Siren and Kaija Siren), the Willensauna Stage built in 1976, and the Omapohja studio built in 1987. The theatre is often associated with the Finnish national romantic writer Aleksis Kivi, as the Aleksis Kivi Memorial is located in front of it.

The Aleksis Kivi Memorial (Finnish: Aleksis Kiven muistopatsas) is a statue dedicated to the Finnish author Aleksis Kivi (1834–1872), designed and sculpted by Wäinö Aaltonen.

Helsinki Railway Square (Finnish: Rautatientori, Swedish: Järnvägstorget) is an open square immediately to the east of the Helsinki Central railway station in central Helsinki in Finland. The square serves as Helsinki's secondary bus station along with the main Kamppi Center bus station. The north side features the Finnish National Theatre, and the south side is formed of the Ateneum classical art museum (part of the Finnish National Gallery). To the west side are the two ornate entrances to Helsinki Central station—a bigger one for public use, and a smaller one exclusively for the President of Finland and their official guests. The square is served by the Helsinki Metro system with Rautatientori metro station entrances at the south-west corner, and University of Helsinki metro station to the east. During summer afternoons and evenings, the pub tram Spårakoff departs from the Mikonkatu tram stop in the square once per hour.