Slight decrease in ticket revenue from 2023
HSL’s ticket revenue amounted to 372.2 million euros in 2024, which is 12.8 million euros less than budgeted (3.3 percent). In particular, ticket revenue from the sale of tickets for zones AB and BC was less than budgeted. In total, our revenue without municipal contributions amounted to 395.7 million euros, which was below the target in the strategy for 2024 (402 million euros).
The municipal contributions paid by the HSL member municipalities are used to pay for the expenses that cannot be covered with ticket and other revenue. The municipalities covered 57.5 percent of the total costs, while in the budget we estimated the municipal contributions to amount to 56.5 percent. The municipalities paid HSL a total of 476.6 million euros in municipal contributions, which is 10.3 million euros more than in 2023. The increase in municipal contributions is due to ticket revenue being lower than estimated.
In terms of passenger numbers, we achieved the highest result since 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic, with 361 million boardings. However, we fell short of our target of 375 million boardings. Passenger numbers increased especially on train and bus services. On the other hand, there were 4 million fewer trips made on the Metro compared to the previous year. This can be explained by the three-month-long service disruptions at the Central Railway Station Metro Station and in East Helsinki.
The decrease in passenger numbers can also be attributed to the challenging weather conditions and strikes at the beginning of 2024, as well as several construction sites that hindered travel across the Helsinki region, especially in terms of train and Metro services.
Expenses were lower than budgeted but still increased significantly
HSL's operating expenses in 2023 totaled 894.5 million euros, which is 14.3 million euros (1.6 percent) below the budget. Operating costs were 18.6 million euros below the budget. The costs were impacted by strikes at the beginning of the year and energy prices that were lower than expected.
However, compared to 2023, the costs have increased significantly, and the increase in infrastructure and operating costs is expected to continue in the coming years. Compared to the previous year, operating costs increased by 32 million euros and infrastructure costs by 23 million euros. The costs have been driven up by targeted increases in supply, the launch of the new tram route 13, and the fact that light rail 15 was in operation throughout the year.
The development of the service level of public transport has also been reflected in HSL's customer satisfaction numbers. For example, in the NPS survey conducted in December, HSL's customer recommendation index was 38, which corresponds to a good result. In September, the corresponding figure was a record 40.
Responsibility work centered around equality and accessibility
HSL continued its responsibility efforts in accordance with the responsibility program that was completed in 2023. In 2024, the emphasis in our responsibility work was particularly on accessibility and equality. HSL joined the anti-racism campaign “Action, not only words” launched by the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office with its own commitments. Additionally, we used separate inspections to ensure the accessibility of tram route 13 and the construction sites related to the Metro during the summer.
Furthermore, the number of HSL's electric buses increased by 119 from 2023; now approximately 40 percent of our buses are powered by electricity. In terms of local exhaust emissions, we have already achieved the target set for 2030, meaning that the local emissions from our services have decreased by over 95 percent from the 2010 level.