West Rail agreement could be delayed beyond next election

The signing of the West Rail project’s shareholder agreement could be pushed beyond Finland’s next parliamentary elections, Yle reports, as appeals against municipal decisions delay the process.

West Rail’s shareholders are the state and the municipalities of Espoo, Turku, Lohja, Salo and Vihti. Appeals have been filed against decisions made by the shareholder municipalities’ councils.

This week, the Turku Administrative Court overturned Salo City Council decisions to hold a referendum on the rail project and approve an updated shareholder agreement. The court found that councillors had been improperly disqualified from taking part, making the decisions unlawful. Salo must now reconsider the matter.

West Rail Oy chief executive Pekka Ottavainen said his earlier expectation that the agreement could be signed within weeks was based on the assumption that the court would not overturn Salo’s decisions. A new decision by the city will restart the process for Salo to approve the agreement, he said, and that decision could also be appealed.

Appeals have also been filed against decisions by other shareholder municipalities. Once the administrative courts have ruled, their decisions can be appealed to Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court, subject to permission.

Project’s future remains uncertain

West Rail is a rail project backed by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. If the shareholder agreement is not signed before the spring parliamentary elections, there is no guarantee that the next government will advance it.

Ottavainen said the company hopes the agreement can be signed as soon as possible, but the state and municipalities ultimately decide when they are ready. He declined to speculate on what a delay beyond the elections would mean for the project, saying the company was proceeding on the assumption that things would go well.