Public transport fares in Helsinki to hike further

The Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (Helsingin seudun liikenne – HSL) will increase the public transport fares again by an average of 1.8 percent from January 1, 2027, said HSL in a press release on Tuesday.

The HSL Executive Board took the decision of fares hike when different countries in Europe are reducing public transport fares or announcing subsidy against the backdrop of increase of fuel prices across the world.

The prices of child single tickets and single tickets for passengers entitled to a 50 percent discount will remain unchanged.

Fares for all other ticket types and zones will increase.

“Setting fares is always a balancing act. We want to keep the fare increases moderate so that public transport remains as accessible as possible. This year, higher passenger numbers and the resulting increase in fare revenue eased the pressure to raise fares, but we are still guided by the owner municipalities’ objective of keeping municipal funding at a certain level. Rising infrastructure and operating costs will increasingly have to be covered by municipal funding and savings in public transport and HSL’s own operations,” said Mari Flink, Director of the Customers Division of HSL.

Earlier on January 1, 2026, the HSL increased the public transport fares by an average of 3.1 percent.

At the beginning of 2025, the HSL also increased the public transport fares by an average of 8 percent.

Meanwhile, in the future, passengers will pay no more than the price of a day ticket for single tickets purchased within a 24-hour period, regardless of how many journeys they make.

“Given the cost pressures, it is important to make travel easier and encourage new customers to use public transport. That is why we are introducing a daily fare cap for single tickets purchased using contactless payment from 2 November 2026,” said Flink.

The fare cap will first be piloted for single tickets purchased using contactless payment. At this stage, it will not apply to mobile tickets purchased in the HSL app or to single tickets purchased with value on an HSL card. The fare cap will initially be introduced on a limited basis for contactless payment so that the authority can gather practical information about its impact on the customer experience, demand and fare revenue before considering extending it to other sales channels.