Kuopion rautatieympäristöt

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

The so-called old station area at the head of Maljalahti bay, bordering Pohjolankatu and Kullervonkatu, is the site of Kuopio's first station. The station building has been demolished, but a number of residential buildings with outbuildings, an engine shed, a smithy and machine-workshop buildings remain.

Kuopio's present station, completed in 1934 and representing functionalist railway architecture, is located just under a kilometre to the west, on the south side of the line. The station has a long platform canopy, which is part of railway architecture.

History

The location of the railway in the town of Kuopio was finally determined in 1886, when the first railway station was sited in the Lahdentaa district, east of the provincial prison. The station was thus located close to the steamship harbour. The construction of the railway partly cut off the town's expansion routes to the north. The Savo Line was opened to traffic between Kouvola and Kuopio in autumn 1889. A general railway meeting concerning extending the line north to Kajaani was held in spring 1895. North of Kuopio, the crossing of Kallavesi marked the largest embankment work carried out in Finland up to that time: on a four-kilometre stretch, a total of over 2 km of embankment was built. The section between Kuopio and Iisalmi was opened in 1902 and the line to Kajaani was completed in 1904. Kuopio was originally the only II class station on the Savo Line.

Kuopio's new station building, completed in 1934, was placed on the northern edge of the grid plan area, on the west side of the railway yard. The partly two-storey railway station building was designed by the architects of Valtionrautatiet, J. Ungern and Thure Hellström. The station building is linked to a tunnel passing under the track, as well as a platform building. The station building was built in 1932-1934 as emergency relief work.

The Kuopio machine works was established as the last line-specific workshop in the year the Savo Line was completed, 1889. The works was extended at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and in 1932 and 1982. In 1932 a new building for locomotive repairs was completed and the old works was demolished. The cession of Viipuri greatly affected the activities of the Kuopio machine works, as some of its operations were moved there. The number of workers at the works doubled during the period 1939-44. The activities of the Kuopio machine works ended in the first half of the 2000s.