The Helsinki Regional Transport Authority ( fi, Helsingin seudun liikenne, HSL; sv, Helsingforsregionens trafik, HRT) is the inter-municipal authority that maintains the public transportation network of the nine municipalities of Greater Helsinki,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. HSL oversees the operation of all of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

's public transportation. The system consists of local buses,

trams A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ar ...

metro trains Metro Trains Melbourne, often known simply as Metro, is the franchise operator of the electrified suburban passenger service on the Melbourne rail network. Metro Trains Melbourne is a joint venture between Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation (6 ...

, ferries, commuter trains, and bikeshare. Apart from four electric buses, HSL does not own rolling stock. Due to this, HSL relies on third-party contractors for the day-to-day operation of the transit system.

History

Founding

HSL was founded on 1 January 2010 on the basis of the Finnish public transportation law, ''joukkoliikennelaki'', which was adopted on 3 December 2009. According to ''joukkoliikennelaki'', HSL is responsible for the planning of

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

in Greater Helsinki. The traffic functions of the inter-municipal Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV) and planning, procuring and tendering functions of

Helsinki City Transport Helsinki City Transport or HKL ( Finnish: ''Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos'', Swedish: ''Helsingfors stads trafikverk'', abbreviated to ''HST'') is the official city-owned public transport company in Helsinki, Finland. It operates the Helsin ...

(HKL, within the city of Helsinki) were moved into the transport authority. When it was founded, HSL had a revenue of over €500 million and approximately 350 employees.

Digitransit

In 2016, HSL started to develop a revamped version of its native journey planner, ''Reittiopas'', originally released by YTV in 2001. The replacement intermodal public transport route planner named as Digitransit is built on open source OpenTripPlanner. In February 2017, the new route planner was opened for public use, and the phasing-out of ''Reittiopas Classic'' began.

Name

The official name of the transport authority is ''Helsingin seudun liikenne -kuntayhtymä HSL'' in Finnish and ''Samkommunen Helsingforsregionens trafik HRT'' in Swedish. The official name of HSL in English is ''Helsinki Regional Transport Authority''. Also the shorter form of the name, ''Helsinki Region Transport'' (''HSL'') may be used in everyday use.

Transportation

HSL oversees the operation of all public transportation in the Helsinki region. However, apart from select bus routes with electric units, the agency does not operate any rolling stock. Therefore, it relies mainly on

independent contractor Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...

s for the operation of the network.

Metro

The Helsinki Metro is operated by HKL. The metro line opened in 1982. The system serves 25 stations in total on its two lines, M1 and M2.

Länsimetro

The first phase of the Länsimetro expansion program extended the metro lines west to

Lauttasaari Lauttasaari (; sv, Drumsö) is an island in Helsinki, Finland, about west of the city centre. Together with some surrounding unpopulated small islands, Lauttasaari is also a district of Helsinki. With 23,226 residents as of 2017, the island is F ...

and southern

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

, serving eight new stations. The second phase of the extension is slated to open in 2023. At that time, the total number of metro stations on the line will increase from 25 to 30.

Commuter rail

Commuter rail service in the region is operated by VR. There are 52 stations in the network, which are served by 15 lines. Out of HSL's three rail networks, commuter rail is the most far-reaching; it serves the northern, north-eastern, and western suburbs of the city, as well as

Helsinki Airport Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...

in Vantaa.

Trams

Trams in Helsinki are operated by HKL. Helsinki was the only Finnish city with tram service in use from 1972, when tram services in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

ended, until 2021, when the Tampere light rail was opened. Tram service in Helsinki began in 1891.

Buses

HSL offers three types of bus service: standard buses, neighbourhood buses and nine small headway crosstown lines ("runkolinja", literally: trunk lines). HSL tickets are also valid on most U-routes which are run by separate companies and serve cities outside of the HSL area.

Standard bus routes

The standard bus routes can be divided into the following categories: * Helsinki internal bus routes ** 20-23: buses serving the central area ** 37-43: buses leaving from Kamppi or

Elielinaukio The Eliel Square ( fi, Elielinaukio, sv, Elielplatsen) is a square on the west side of the Helsinki Central Station in the heart of Helsinki, Finland. It is named after the railway station designer Eliel Saarinen. The square is for the most part ...

and serving the areas of Haaga and Kannelmäki ** 50-69: crosstown lines, usually going from eastern or northern Helsinki to Elielinaukio, Kamppi or Rautatientori ** 70-79: buses serving the Malmi area ** 80-98: eastern metro connection buses *** 80-89: buses serving areas near

Herttoniemi Herttoniemi ( sv, Hertonäs) is an East Helsinki neighbourhood and a suburb of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. Geography Located about east of the city centre, Herttoniemi can be reached by the Helsinki Metro in 10 minutes, or by road via the It� ...

*** 90-98: buses serving areas near

Itäkeskus Itäkeskus ( sv, Östra centrum, literal translation ''East center'') is a '' quarter'' in the neighbourhood of Vartiokylä (as of the 1980s) in Helsinki, Finland. The district's main attraction is the largest covered-in shopping mall in the Nordi ...

, Myllypuro, Kontula, Mellunmäki, Rastila and

Vuosaari Vuosaari ( sv, Nordsjö) is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki and with its area of is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila ...

* Espoo internal bus routes * Vantaa internal bus routes * Regional routes within the HSL area ** 111-739: these buses have a basic numbering system with the smaller numbers mostly going west towards Espoo, the larger numbers mostly going north-east towards Vantaa and the some 500-series buses being cross-city routes The numbers listed above have exceptions (e.g. Helsinki internal school bus route 91 which serves the Östersundom area).

Neighbourhood bus routes

The neighbourhood lines use mini-buses which stop anywhere on the line at a passenger's request. These lines often run hourly from morning to afternoon on weekdays and have little to no service on weekends. The lines are mostly meant to be used by people with difficulties moving but they can be used by all people.

Trunk routes

There are nine orange colour-coded cross-city lines which are called trunk lines are routes 20, 30, 40, 200, 500, 510, 550, 560 and 570. 550 runs from the

Itäkeskus metro station Itäkeskus metro station (, - "Eastern Center") is a ground-level station on the Helsinki Metro. The station was built on the grounds of the shopping center Itis, and serves the quarter of Itäkeskus in the neighborhood of Vartiokylä in East Hel ...

in the east, through the

Oulunkylä Oulunkylä ( sv, Åggelby, also known as ''Ogeli'') is a suburb and a neighbourhood of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is located north from the center of the city. It has been inhabited since the 13th century. Earlier an independent munic ...

, Huopalahti,

Pitäjänmäki Pitäjänmäki () is a district located on the westernmost district of Helsinki, Finland, near the border with Espoo. There are many IT and machine manufacturing companies in the area, especially around the Valimo railway station. Such compani ...

, Mäkkylä and Leppävaara commuter train stations and the western metro stations of

Aalto university Aalto University ( fi, Aalto-yliopisto; sv, Aalto-universitetet) is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the ...

and Tapiola, terminating at Westendinasema in the west. 560 runs from Rastila metro station in the east, through the

, Mellunmäki and Kontula metro stations and the Malmi and

Myyrmäki Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning " Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is ...

commuter train stations terminating in Honkasuo in the north. Route 20 runs from

Eira Eira is a neighborhood in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. History The district dates back to the early 20th century and received its name after Eira Hospital in the neighboring district of Ullanlinna, which in turn took its name from Eira ...

in the south to Munkkivuori. It runs around entire Munkkivuori and stops also in Talinranta. Route 30 runs from Eira to Honkasuo (Myyrmäki) via Pitäjänmäki, Malminkartano and Myyrmäki railway stations. Routes 20 and 30 run on the same route from Eira to Munkkivuori through

Kamppi metro station Kamppi metro station ( fi, Kampin metroasema; sv, Kampens metrostation) is a station on the Helsinki Metro. In addition to serving the area around Kamppi in central Helsinki, the station is integrated with the Kamppi Center bus terminal and shopp ...

. Route 40 runs from

next to the

Helsinki central railway station Helsinki Central Station ( fi, Helsingin päärautatieasema, sv, Helsingfors centralstation) ( HEC) is the main station for commuter rail and long-distance trains departing from Helsinki, Finland. The station is used by approximately 400,000 peo ...

to Kannelmäki and route 200 from Elielinaukio to Espoo center through the railway stations of Pitäjänmäki, Mäkkylä and Leppävaara. Route 500 runs from Itäkeskus to Munkkivuori and route 510 from Herttoniemi metro station to Westendinasema through the western metro stations Aalto University and Tapiola. Routes 500 and 510 run on the same route from Herttoniemi to Munkkiniemi through the metro stations of

Kulosaari Kulosaari () is an island and an East Helsinki suburb in Helsinki, Finland. It is also the 42nd neighbourhood of the city. Construction of villas on the island started in the beginning of the 20th century, and a bridge from Sörnäinen was opened ...

and

Kalasatama Kalasatama ( sv, Fiskehamnen; literally translated "fish port") is a neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland. The area is officially part of the Sörnäinen district; and like Sörnäinen, Kalasatama is located a little more than one kilomet ...

and the

Pasila railway station Pasila station ( fi, Pasilan rautatieasema, sv, Böle järnvägstation; previous Swedish name was ''Fredriksberg'' until 1990) is a railway station in Helsinki, Finland, approximately north of Helsinki Central. It is the second busiest railway ...

. Route 570 runs from

Mellunmäki metro station Mellunmäki metro station (, ) is the ground-level terminus station on the M2 line of the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Mellunmäki in East Helsinki. The station was opened on 1 September 1989 and was designed by architect An arc ...

in the east through the

Tikkurila railway station Tikkurila station ( fi, Tikkurilan rautatieasema, sv, Dickursby station) is located in Tikkurila, the administrative centre of Vantaa in the Helsinki metropolitan area. It is located approximately from Helsinki Central railway station and fro ...

to the

Helsinki airport Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...

Routes 200, 500, 510, 550, 560 and 570 use long wheel-base buses which have a high capacity and are colour-coded orange instead of the regular blue colour-coding on buses. Routes 20, 30 and 40 use usually new electric articulated buses that are orange as well. The trunk lines don't stop at every bus stop. Buses on the route 550 run every 4–10 minutes between 4:20 and 21:30 and every 15–30 minutes between 21:30 and 1:00 on weekdays with buses running every 10 minutes between 10:00 and 19:00 and every 15–30 minutes between 4:50 and 10:00 and between 19:00 and 1:00 on Saturdays, and every 10 minutes between 10:00 and 19:00 and every 15–30 minutes between 5:20 and 10:00 and between 19:00 and 1:00 on Sundays. Buses on the route 560 run every 7–10 minutes between 5:15 and 20:30 and every 15–30 minutes between 4:30 and 5:15 and between 20:30 and 0:30 with buses running every 10 minutes between 11:00 and 18:30 and every 15–30 minutes between 5:00 and 11:00 and between 18:30 and 0:30 on Saturdays, and every 15 minutes between 11:00 and 20:30 and every 20–30 minutes between 5:30 and 11:00 and between 20:30 and 24:00 on Sundays. A plan to build a light-rail connection from Itäkeskus to Keilaniemi following the current route of bus route 550 has been finalised and accepted by the cities of Helsinki and Espoo. Construction is set to start in 2019. The light-rail will have a track gauge of 1000mm which is the same as on the Helsinki tram system. The vehicles would be larger versions of the current Helsinki trams and would be built by Finnish company Transtech. The first trunk line 550 started operating in 2006 when it was known as the "Jokeri" (joker) line. In 2013 it became the first trunk line. 560 began operating in 2015. Routes 500 and 510 were opened in 2019 and they replaced the lines 58 and 551. Route 200 was opened in 2020 and it replaced the line 235. Routes 20, 30, 40 and 570 were opened in 2021 and they replaced the lines 14, 18, 39 and 562. Routes 550, 560 and 570 are operated by Helsingin bussiliikenne. Route 500 is operated by Pohjolan Liikenne. Other trunk lines are operated by Nobina Finland.

Bus operators

Bus services are divided among multiple operators. The companies granted with traffic contracts as of 2020 are: *

Nobina Nobina AB (former Concordia Bus AB) is the largest bus transport group in the Nordic region, serving markets in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden with a total of 3,347 buses (2014). Since 2005 the group is based in Stockholm. History Conco ...

* Pohjolan Liikenne * Helsingin Bussiliikenne * Savonlinja * Tammelundin Liikenne * Åbergin Linja * Korsisaari * Taksikuljetus * Reissu-Ruoti * Tilausliikenne Nikkanen * V-S Bussipalvelut

Ferry

A ferry to Suomenlinna is part of the HSL network. This route is operated on two ferries, ''Suokki'' and ''Suomenlinna II''.

Bikeshare

In 2016 HSL launched Helsinki's bikeshare program. Starting on 2 May 2016, users could register to use the network for a day fee of €5, a week fee of €10 or the entire season from May to the end of October for €25. The initial network included 500 bikes, one of which a user could use to travel from any of the 50 stations to another. The bikeshare system is a joint venture between CityBike Finland, HKL, and HSL. The system is sponsored by

HOK-Elanto The S Group ( fi, S-ryhmä, sv, S-gruppen) is a Finnish retailing cooperative organisation with its head office in Helsinki. Founded in 1904, it consists of 20 regional cooperatives operating all around Finland in addition to SOK, ''Suomen Osuu ...

's grocery shop chain Alepa, which has purchased the commercial space on the bicycles. Due to this, the bicycles are colloquially known as ''alepapyörät'' (''”Alepa bikes”''). In late 2016 HSL announced the details of a revamped bikeshare system, this time spanning 1,500 bikes and 150 stations. The expanded bike program brought the service to Munkkiniemi,

Pasila Pasila (; sv, Böle, ) is a part of Helsinki, Finland, that is both a central-northern neighbourhood and district, bordering the areas of Alppila to the south, the Central Park ( Keskuspuisto) to the west, and Vallila to the east. Pasila is ...

, and Vallila. In addition to having 1,400 bikes and 140 stations in Helsinki, the service covered Matinkylä and Olari in Espoo with 100 bikes and 10 stations. The 2018 season saw a further-expanded network, with a total of 2,200 bikes at 220 stations, of which 70 are located in Espoo. The season fare was increased to €30.

Ticketing

As of 27 April 2019, the HSL area is divided into four zones designated A, B, C and D, roughly circularly divided according to distance from the city centre of Helsinki. Customers are obligated to buy a ticket spanning at least two zones at a time; the exception to this is zone D, for which a single zone ticket is available. Available tickets include single, day and seasonal tickets, all of which can be bought using a travel card or from HSL's vending machines or mobile application. Additionally, single and day tickets may be bought aboard buses from the driver. HSL controls the sale and inspection of transit tickets. Apart from the bus network, all of HSL's services use a

proof-of-payment Proof-of-payment (POP) or proof-of-fare (POF) is an honor-based fare collection system used on many public transportation systems. Instead of checking each passenger as they enter a fare control zone, passengers are required to carry a ticket, p ...

system: there are no gates at metro and commuter rail stations or tram stops. Instead, passengers are required to present a valid ticket to fare inspectors, who randomly patrol the network. If caught without a valid ticket, a passenger must pay a fine of €80 in addition to the full price of the ticket.

Zones

* – spans from the city centre of Helsinki to the districts of

, Etelä-Haaga,

Käpylä Käpylä (; sv, Kottby) is a neighbourhood of Helsinki with 7,600 inhabitants. Administratively speaking, Käpylä is a part of the Vanhakaupunki district. It is located between Kumpula, Oulunkylä and Koskela. Käpylä has a terminus for ...

and

* – the rest of Helsinki,

Kauniainen Kauniainen (; sv, Grankulla) is a small town and a municipality of inhabitants () in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. It is surrounded and enclaved by the City of Espoo, in the Capital Region of Greater Helsinki. Kauniainen was founde ...

, eastern

and southern

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa is the fourth most populated city in Finland ...

* – the Östersundom district of Helsinki, western Espoo and northern Vantaa * – the town of Kerava and the municipalities of

Kirkkonummi Kirkkonummi (; sv, Kyrkslätt, , Sweden ) is a municipality of inhabitants () in southern Finland. The literal meaning of the words "''Kirkkonummi''" and "''Kyrkslätt''" in English is "church heath". Geography The municipality is located just ...

Siuntio Siuntio (; sv, Sjundeå) is a municipality of Finland located in the Uusimaa region in the province of Southern Finland. Its neighboring municipalities are Ingå to the west, Kirkkonummi, to the east, Lohja to the north-west, and Vihti to the no ...

Sipoo Sipoo (; sv, Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The administrative center of the munic ...

and

Tuusula Tuusula (; sv, Tusby ) is a municipality of Finland. It belongs to the Helsinki sub-region of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of () and is by far the third largest municipality in Finland after Nurmijärvi and Kirkkonummi ...

** Travelers traveling between the HSL zone and

Järvenpää Järvenpää (; sv, Träskända) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located on the Helsinki–Riihimäki railway track in Uusimaa region, some north of Helsinki. Neighbouring municipalities are Tuusula, Sipoo and Mäntsälä. People ...

may also use zone D tickets; the city will become a full member of HSL in 2022.

Organization

HSL is owned by the cities of

, Kerava, and

and the municipalities of

and

. In 2017,

and

voted to join HSL. The other municipalities in the Greater Helsinki area (

Nurmijärvi Nurmijärvi () is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. Th ...

, Mäntsälä,

Pornainen Pornainen (; sv, Borgnäs) is a small municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The neighboring municipalities are Askola in the east, Mäntsälä in the north, Porvoo in the so ...

Hyvinkää Hyvinkää (; sv, Hyvinge, ) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region, approximately north of the capital Helsinki. The city was chartered in 1960. The population of Hyvinkää is (). Its neighboring municipal ...

, and

Vihti Vihti (; sv, Vichtis) is a small municipality located in the Uusimaa region of province of Southern Finland, approximately northwest of the capital city Helsinki. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water ...

) have the possibility of joining HSL in the future. About 1.3 million people live in the 14 municipalities of Greater Helsinki and the population is estimated to increase to approximately 1.5 million by the year 2030. HSL's office is located in Opastinsilta 6 A, Helsinki.

Visual identity

After the founding of HSL, the visual identity of all transportation services in Helsinki was unified under one brand name and logo. The HSL identity is heavily based on the color-coding of different elements to highlight the types of information presented; danger is represented in red, optional information in blue. The visual identity of HSL was created by the design office Kokoro & Moi. The designers have explained the concept as: :"The outlook shows reliability, freshness and ease of approaching. The octagonal shape of the logo is symbolizing the expanding public transportation network. The loops in the logo remind of leaf shoots, telling of new ways of action and new partnerships and of ecological values. The eight loops also represent all cardinal directions and are sending a message of the broad-ranged function of the organization. In the middle of the logo there are two graphical lines, symbolizing uniting organizations and the public transportation with its tracks, wheels and map lines."

Colours

The base colour for HSL is blue (#007AC9). Each of the forms of transit are represented with a colour of its own.

Fonts

Fonts used in HSL brand are Gotham Rounded and Gotham XNarrow. The foremost font type is Gotham Rounded which is present in most of the materials. Gotham XNarrow is used less, mostly in advertisements, quotations, numberings and line listings.

Pictograms

HSL has its own collection of dedicated pictograms which follow the design guidelines. They also offer a library for the ready-made pictograms that are used both in signposts and on the website as icons without the frame.

Work

HSL's duty is to do its part in taking care of the functioning, economical aspects and caring of nature in greater Helsinki. This goal is achieved by promoting the usage of public transportation and by organizing affordable and well functioning public transportation services. HSL takes care of planning the regional public transportation and internal public transportation of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. Beside planning, HSL also tenders the bus companies. The organization owns no buses or rail rolling stock. One of the agency's jobs is to compile the Helsinki Region Transport System Plan.