From Vote to Tracks: Turku’s Tramway and the Carbon Handprint

Turku’s tramway project has moved into a new phase. Following the City Council’s 2026 decision to proceed, attention is now turning to implementation, design and the long-term role of the tramway in shaping mobility and urban development.

In this Flow on Rails webinar, Lauri Räty from Turku Tramway Limited explains the project’s route, timeline and key design principles. Taina Haapamäki from Flow Oy then presents the carbon handprint analysis, comparing the tramway with a developed trunk-bus alternative and examining emissions from construction, vehicles and transport operations.

Watch the full webinar below.

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Turku’s first tramway line will connect the harbour with the city centre, the hospital and science park area, and Varissuo, with passenger operations planned for 2033. The project is intended not only to increase public transport capacity, but also to reshape streets, improve conditions for walking and cycling, and concentrate future urban development around high-capacity public transport.

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The carbon handprint study presented during the webinar compares the tramway with a developed trunk-bus scenario over a 35-year period. It considers emissions from the built environment, vehicle manufacturing and maintenance, and transport operations.

The analysis found a positive carbon handprint for the tramway of around 420 g CO₂e per inhabitant per year. However, the most important finding is what drives that result: urban densification. By attracting more residents and activities to accessible locations along the tram corridor, the tramway scenario reduces traffic emissions per inhabitant.

The study also shows that the result is sensitive to population and land-use assumptions. Without the densification effect, the tramway’s carbon handprint would become negative within the assessment period. This underlines that the climate impact of major transport investments depends not only on the infrastructure itself, but also on how transport, land use and urban development are planned together.

The webinar also discusses project costs, expected government funding, political support and the next steps toward construction and opening in 2033.