number of the local and regional trains run further out to towns as far north as Riihimäki and Lahti and as far west as Karis on tracks shared with long-distance trains. These regional services have headways of up to one hour and often more limited operating hours. Long-distance trains depart from the Central Railway Station and Pasila railway station to destinations across Finland. Intercity trains offer connections to major Finnish cities and international services to Saint Petersburg and Moscow in Russia. A railway tunnel has been proposed to connect Helsinki with Tallinn, though the proposal is still in the investigation phase. Rail transport lines *Located outside Helsinki Metropolitan Area Bus services Trunk bus lines In August 2013, HSL launched the first trunk bus route, the orbital line 550, formerly branded Jokeri. The trunk lines are meant to provide "metro-like" service with very short headways and a distinguishable fleet. The second orbital trunk line, number 560, opened in August 2015. Trunk lines 500 and 510 started in August 2019. August 2020 saw the addition of trunk line 200, while August 2021 was the start date of trunk buses 20, 30, 40 and 570. Trunk lines 300, 400 and 600 started in August 2022. Regular bus lines Internal bus routes of Helsinki can be found almost anywhere in Helsinki. For some parts of the city, even high-density, these buses provide the backbone of the public transportation system. The routes are drawn and the timetables set by HSL, but operated by independent companies. HSL tenders a route or a set of routes and the company offering to operate the route for the best quality-price ratio will get the contract. The quality is measured with a pointing system which gives points for such aspects as the quietness, environmental efficiency and the size of the buses that would be used. The biggest bus operators are Nobina Finland, Veolia Transport Finland and Helsingin Bussiliikenne (HelB). These companies run a majority of the contract services. One rapidly expanding company is the VR (state rail) owned Pohjolan Liikenne, which has recently been very successful with the tendering. Mostly the expansion has been at the cost of HelB. Many of the buses operating in eastern Helsinki and Southern Espoo act as feeder lines for the Helsinki Metro. Nearly all other routes have the other end of their lines in the downtown near the Helsinki Central railway station. Such exceptions