HSL in 2020

The coronavirus had a drastic effect on public transport in the Helsinki region last year as the pandemic caused a significant decrease in ticket revenue and in the number of passengers. In addition to municipal contributions, government’s coronavirus subsidies played a major role in covering our financing gap.

We made moderate reductions in our transport services in the light of the coronavirus

Bus services switched to summer timetables earlier than usual this spring. We extended the hours when the Metro operates at a higher frequency to ensure that passengers can keep a safe distance to each other.

Digital sales of tickets kept growing

An increasing number of our customers relied on digital self-service channels to purchase tickets.

The HSL app grew in popularity, and with a 41 per cent share of total sales, the app is now an even more central sales channel.

Customers have been able to top up their HSL card online since summer 2020.

Electric buses and environmental bonuses

We include environmental responsibility in the procurement of public transport services and, in the long run, we contribute to environmental work by means of transport system planning.

As a result of the tendering processes for bus services that we launched in 2020, a total of 136 new fully electric buses will enter service in the Helsinki region.

We paid over two million euros in environmental bonuses to bus operators for cutting down emissions from bus services.

2020 in figures

By clicking on the link below, you can read more about the number of journeys made on the public transport services we procure, the reliability of the services and the number of vehicles required to provide them.