Avoid a €100 surprise: Buy a ticket on the HSL app before boarding!

Do you use the HSL app? Did you know that you must have a ticket in your app before boarding a bus, train or tram, or before entering the Metro or ferry payment area? This way, you avoid an unpleasant €100 surprise.

This is a nice surprise

A surprise from your workmates, a gift from your family, or a happy reunion with an old friend. Those are nice surprises.

A person sitting on a bus who has received a penalty fare

A €100 penalty fare is not a nice surprise

Nobody likes unpleasant surprises. But you might get one if you don’t have a ticket in your HSL app when you board a vehicle or enter a payment area. Avoid a €100 surprise by making sure you have a ticket in your HSL app before you board.

How to avoid a €100 surprise

Buy your ticket on the HSL app before you board

The HSL app is easy to use: go to Tickets, select the option that suits you, buy your ticket, and make sure it shows in the app. You’re ready to go!

If your ticket arrives in the app after you’ve already boarded a vehicle or entered the Metro or ferry payment area, you could face an unpleasant €100 surprise. Always make sure that you receive your ticket on your phone before you board a vehicle or enter a payment area.

Things to keep in mind for different transport modes

When traveling on a blue bus, buy a ticket and make sure it shows in the HSL app before you board. Show the ticket to the driver.

On trains, trams and orange trunk route buses, you must have a ticket in the app before boarding. However, you only need to show it if asked by a ticket inspector or train conductor.

When traveling on a ferry or the Metro, buy a ticket and make sure it shows in the HSL app before you enter the payment area. You only need to show your ticket if asked by a ticket inspector.

The payment area starts at the card readers at Metro stations and on ferry piers.

Make sure the ticket shows in your HSL app

Your ticket must show in the HSL app before you board a bus, tram or train, or enter the Metro or Suomenlinna ferry payment area.

Make sure your phone has enough battery for the entire journey. You may be issued a €100 penalty fare if the ticket is activated on your phone while you’re already on board, on an escalator down to a Metro station or on the ferry pier, or if your ticket cannot be inspected because your phone is out of battery.

Ticket sorted, penalty fare thwarted

Over 70% of passengers use the HSL app. However, it’s not the only way to buy a ticket. You can also avoid a €100 surprise—that’s a penalty fare—by buying a ticket with your HSL card or using contactless payment at card readers on board vehicles or at stations immediately after boarding. Alternatively, you can buy tickets from sales and service points. At the busiest stations and stops, you can also get tickets from ticket machines.