Kalahari Commuter Rail

The **Kalahari Commuter Rail** is a suburban-and-intercity rail system serving the city of Courgenay as well as the neighbouring cities of Kala Bakra Port, Tammilahti and Harjapula, as well as one town outside of the Kalahari region, Ruhtinansalmi. Kalahari Commuter Rail is operated by Terrencian Railways.

## History

### 1950s

The Kalahari Commuter Rail was inaugurated in 1956 once the existing section between Courgenay Central and Kuoppala on the Kuoppala Line was electrified. Kalahari Commuter Rail service began on 14:24 on 31 October 1956 with the first electric train leaving Kuoppala. Electrification cut travel times between Courgenay Central and Kuoppala from 1.5 hours to just 35 minutes.

### 1960s

The 1960s was a turning point in the Kalahari Commuter Rail service: electrification from Courgenay Central to Lipponen on the Laukkanen Line was inaugurated on 1 April 1963. The remainder of Laukkanen Line between Lipponen and Pihlaja, as well as its through service to the Tammilahti Line to Ruhtinansalmi, remained unelectrified for the time being.

Electrification of the Salminen Line between Courgenay Central and Verskans Bos was completed on 7 July 1966. From the timetable revision on 1 March 1967, inspired by the Copenhagen S-train network, letters of the alphabet were introduced to the Kalahari Commuter Rail system as train service identifiers. The original letters, E, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, P, S and V, were deliberately chosen.

The remainder of Laukkanen Line (Lipponen - Pihlaja) and the section of the Tammilahti Line between Pihlaja and Hokiraumu was electrified in 1968.

### 1970s

The remainder of Tammilahti Line between Hokiraumu and Ruhtinansalmi was electrified on 22 August 1976, and the same day the R train was introduced as a direct Courgenay Central-to-Ruhtinansalmi service, and in May 1978, the T train was introduced as a longer late-night version of the L train.

## Service patterns

### Kuoppala Line

* A: A trains stop at every station on the Kuoppala Line between Courgenay Central and Laintio except for six stations: Pekkala, Kouhalohti, Kalruth, Khin Thoram, Rudrajogai and Thigh Loduhr. The A train was introduced from the timetable revision of 23 September 1996.
* E: E trains stop at every station on the Kuoppala Line between Courgenay Central and Kuoppala. The letter E is an original designation from 1967.
* I: I trains are express trains that run from morning to night, running between Courgenay Central and Kuoppala. The letter I is an original designation from 1967.
* U: U trains are commuter express trains that run during rush hours. They are basically like I trains, but they skip an additional four stations: Megavara, Groen Ruimte Veld, Pieninena and Tinggi Baru. Prior to the discontinuation of the S trains in 2016, the S and U trains had similar stopping patterns, but the S trains went only as far as Sarkalahti, while the U trains went further up to Kuoppala.
* Y: Y trains are limited express trains that run between Courgenay Central and Koktra. Y trains stop only at Courgenay Central, Courgenay Plaza, Immonen, Laintio, Templeford, Barthelemy Park, and Koktra.

### Courgenay Loop Line

* P/Q: The Courgenay Loop Line running clockwise is called the "inner circle line" or the P train and the counter-clockwise line is called the "outer circle line" or the Q train. Both P and Q trains stop at all stations. The P and Q trains are the only Kalahari Commuter Rail services that do not serve Courgenay Central. Instead, they serve the underground station, Courgenay Norwalk Street, when they reach downtown Courgenay.

### Marjoniemi Line

* M: M trains stop at all stations between Ritisenlahti and Marjoniemi. This is the only service present on the Marjoniemi Line.

### Laukkanen Line and Tammilahti Line

* C: C trains are limited express services that run on the Laukkanen Line between Courgenay Central and Carina. They are a bit faster than the R trains, skipping two additional stations served by R trains, at Trastmossen and Vihtakoski. This service was introduced from the timetable revision on 17 May 1998.
* R: R trains are limited express services that run on the Laukkanen and the Tammilahti Line (as through service), between Courgenay Central on the Laukkanen Line and Ruhtinansalmi on the Tammilahti Line. This service was introduced on 22 August 1976 following the completion of electrification works on the remainder of the Tammilahti Line.
* H: H trains are peak-hour-only commuter express services that run between Courgenay Central and Pihlaja on the Laukkanen Line. The H train skips a few additional stations (most notably at Indopallaeva) while the K train does not. The letter H is an original designation from 1967.
* K: K trains are express trains that serve the Laukkanen Line and run between Courgenay Central and Pihlaja. The letter K is an original designation from 1967.
* L: L trains stop at every station on the Laukkanen Line, and run all day between Courgenay Central and Pihlaja. The letter L is one of the original lettered trains from 1967.
* T: T trains are nighttime-only local trains that replace the R and L trains during nighttime hours, and run on the Laukkanen and the Tammilahti Line (as through service), between Courgenay Central on the Laukkanen Line and Ruhtinansalmi on the Tammilahti Line.

### Fernley-Ratsula Line

* G: G trains run between Fernley and Ratsula, stopping all stations in the Fernley-Ratsula Line. The letter G was introduced for this service in 2015 when this line opened.

### Salminen Line

* V: V trains stop at all stations on the line between Courgenay Central and Fairview Square. The V stood for Verkans Bos, the original southern terminus of the Salminen Line before extension to Fairview Square in 2008.
* W: W trains run express, stopping at selected stations between Courgenay Central and Fairview Square. During peak hours, the W trains are more frequent than V trains.

### Courgenay Airport Line

* Z: Z trains provide an airport rail link between Courgenay Central and Courgenay Airport. This airport rail link was built in 2007 to cut travel time from Courgenay Central to the airport, as roads connecting the airport and the city are frequently affected by traffic congestion. The Z trains run limited stops between Courgenay Central and Leppiniemi (sharing existing tracks on the Laukkanen Line) and then diverge into the own trackage beyond Leppiniemi to Courgenay Airport Terminal 4 station.

### Kala Bakra Port Line

* O: O trains are the only services in the Kala Bakra Port Line, which service the city of Kala Bakra Port. The O trains run between Kala Bakra Port and Pihlaja (interchange with the Laukkanen Line at Pihlaja), stopping at every station.

### Discontinued service patterns

* G: The former G train ran on the Laukkanen Line and the Tammilahti Line as an express service between Courgenay Central and Jakeri. It was the only Laukkanen Line service that did not stop at Irniniemi. This service was started in May 2000, and was abolished in 2011 in order to improve management of traffic and timetable keeping on the Laukkanen Line especially during winter conditions. The letter G was re-introduced as a local train on the Fernley-Ratsula Line with the line's opening in 2015.
* J: The J train ran on the Laukkanen Line between Courgenay Central and Juurikkalahti and operated with an interval of one hour. The J train was finally discontinued in 2001. Before then, several stations were procedurally closed in the 1990s due to low passenger numbers and the J trains disturbing other commuter traffic by being too slow.
* M: The former M train ran on the Salminen Line between Courgenay Central and Manorbier, running semi-express only. This service ran from 1967 and was stopped in 2004, since the letter designation could be easily mistaken that it is a metro service. With the completion of Marjoniemi Line, the letter M is reused again, since 2018, for an unrelated Marjoniemi Line local train that does not go to Courgenay Central.
* N: The N train ran on the Laukkanen Line between Courgenay Central and Karenalava only. It was an evening-rush-hour only commuter express service. Its stopping pattern was similar to the H trains, but N trains added one additional station at Panovinonia. On its final years of operation, the N train ran only one train per 45 minutes on the Laukkanen Line. The N trains were abolished on the timetable revision of October 2019 and were replaced with the H trains.
* P: The former P train on the Laukkanen Line ran from Courgenay Central and Pihlaja as a limited express (few stops) service. This service was started in March 1967 and was discontinued in 2003. The P train was later introduced as a Courgenay Loop Line clockwise loop train with the opening of the Courgenay Loop Line in 2013.
* S: The S train was a peak-hour-only commuter express train on the Kuoppala Line that had a similar stopping pattern to the U train that was later introduced in 1985, but the S trains only terminated at Sarkalahti whereas the U trains went beyond Sarkalahti, bound for Kuoppala, the northern terminus of the Kuoppala Line. The S train was one of the original March 1967 service letters. It was abolished in 2016 and was replaced by the U train, for better simplification of services.