Submitted by Augustin, who says:
A new ring rail line is soon to be opened in Helsinki, thus providing a convenient way to reach the airport from city centre (only bus services are available as of now). HSL, the local transportation authority, advertises this huge change with a lovely heart shaped map of the ring, conveniently showing all the stops the trains will potentially call at, although the actual stopping pattern on the line has yet to be decided. (If there are too much stops to the airport, the train will not do better than bus, which takes 30 minutes and leaves every 10 minute from Helsinki train station bus centre. My guess is that there will be omnibus services on both ways, and expresses services to the airport using the shorter I way.)
The geographically accurate map shows that, indeed, the completed ring will be pretty much heart shaped. The stylized version does a good enough job for advertising purposes, even showing the transfers to other transportation means, and the transversal high frequency buses (orange lines, known as “Jokerit”). We’ll see how it’s included in the global maps. The letters P and I by which the two services are to be known (viz. clockwise and counterclockwise) refer, I guess, to Pohjoinen (Nothern, as the section from Helsinki to Vantaankoski is on the main railway that serves central and northern Finland), and Itäinen (Eastern, because of the section between Helsinki and Tikkurila.)
Opening is due in early July, but Helsinkians already surely love it! (The completion of that project has been long awaited…)
Transit Maps says:
The map is actually quite adorable, and works really nicely within the context of introducing the new rail service to the public. I note that HSL’s home page uses a heart-shaped icon to represent the new service, so this is definitely part of an overall branding effort.
As for how the new line will fit into upcoming maps, I’ve got some more submissions in the pipeline that give us some idea of that. Stay tuned!
Source: project page on HSL’s website