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 A conductor
and passengers in the mid-1970s. The last conductors were phased out in May 1987.
| An adult 10-trip ticket cost 13 marks in 1978. A single ticket
cost 1.70 marks for adults and 80 pennies for children. A tourist ticket cost 7 marks, a
30-day pass 35 marks and an annual pass 300 marks. |
Trams run on 600 volt direct current. Feeder stations transform
10,000 volt grid current into suitable direct current. There are 14 feeder stations in
Helsinki. In 1998 trams consumed about 21 million kilowatts of electricity in Helsinki. |
 A switch iron has been an important tool for
drivers since the beginning of tram services and will no doubt have uses in the future as
well.
| The people of Helsinki have many names for trams. The proper
Finnish term is "raitiovaunu", but this has been shortened to
"ratikka" and "raitsika". Other nicknames include "skuru"
and "spora". In the 1970s drivers gave four-axle trams the nickname
"laihialainen", which is a synonym for cheap. |
When conductors’ work was reduced, conductors’ booths
were removed from trams. They became stripped-down models and hence the nickname.
Drivers’ nickname for articulated trams is "nivel", which comes from the
Finnish term for articulated, or "sarana", which means hinge. |
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