New HSL tickets and zones introduced on 27 April 2019

The pricing of public transport tickets in the HSL area will fundamentally change on 27 April when the old fare zones based on municipal boundaries are replaced by the new zones. Internal, regional and extended regional tickets will become a thing of the past and instead, tickets will be purchased for zones A, B, C and D.

Passengers need to buy a ticket for all the zones they travel through. In zones A, B and C, you need to buy an AB, BC or ABC ticket, as there are no one-zone tickets for zones A, B and C. There are one-zone tickets for zone D. The ticket costs the same as AB and BC tickets. There are also ABCD, BC, BCD and CD tickets.

“The new zones will facilitate the use of services in the neighboring municipality, as the high price gaps between municipalities are removed. The new tickets will cover much wider areas and the transfer times of single and value tickets will be longer than at present,” says HSL Executive Director Suvi Rihtniemi. 

When you search for a route using the Journey Planner or the HSL app, they also tell you which ticket you need for your journey. On the app, you can buy a ticket for the selected route. A Journey Planner for the new zones is already available. You can use the planner to check the zones through which you need to travel. At stops, the zone is shown on stop signs. When the new zones are introduced, the card reader user interface will change and the reader will only display the ticket options available in your current location.

Season tickets that expire after 27 April will be automatically converted into zone tickets. If the new season ticket does not meet your travel needs, you can change your ticket at a service point within two months from the introduction of the new system.

This is how tickets will be converted:

  • Helsinki internal -> AB
  • Espoo and Vantaa internal tickets -> BC
  • Regional ticket -> ABC
  • Kerava–Sipoo–Tuusula -> D
  • Kirkkonummi–Siuntio -> D
  • Extended region 2 -> BCD
  • Extended region 3 -> ABCD

You must replace your green Travel Card with a new blue HSL card or switch to the HSL app before 27 April. The green cards cannot be used for travel under the new zone system. You can replace your card free of charge until the changeover to the new system. After that, a processing fee of 6 euros will be charged. To this date, more than 850,000 cards have been replaced. Online top up of HSL cards will become available at HSL.fi after the introduction of the new zones next autumn.

Zone extension tickets and larger travel areas make travel easier

New zone extension tickets will be introduced, allowing passengers to inexpensively expand the travel area of their season tickets. For example, if you have an AB season ticket and want to travel to Helsinki Airport, you can buy a zone extension ticket for zone C. The ticket costs 2.50 euros. If you have purchased your season ticket using the HSL app, you must also buy your zone extension ticket on the app. Correspondingly, if you have a season ticket on your HSL card, you must buy any zone extension tickets with your HSL card at a card reader.

The transport costs of many passengers using regional tickets will decrease, because in many cases, an AB or BC season ticket will be enough for them in the future. This means a saving of nearly 47 euros or 44 per cent for a 30-day season ticket. Many passengers will benefit from the reform as the B zone is large: over 600,000 people, about half of HSL area residents, live within the zone. In the case of passengers using an ABC ticket, the price will remain nearly the same; a 30-day ABC season ticket will cost one euro more than the current regional ticket. If you live in zone C or D and do not usually travel to Helsinki city center, a BC or BCD ticket is a good option.

“The pricing of public transport will become more attractive in many areas. We expect increase in the use of public transport in particular in zones B and C. According to traffic forecasts, car journeys will decrease, in particular in the direction of Helsinki, and public transport passenger kilometers will increase by five per cents,” says Suvi Rihtniemi.

Discount for over 70s and for students on season tickets

A new discount will be introduced for passengers aged 70 years and over. The discount is 50 per cent on adult rates and it will apply to value and zone extension tickets purchased with the HSL card on journeys beginning between 9am and 2pm every day. To get the discount, customers need to visit a service point to update their HSL card customer group.

The discount criteria for pensioner and disabled discounts will remain unchanged, but the discount rates will be harmonized so that the discount is 50 per cent for all. The age limit for child tickets will be extended to 17 years.

In the new fare system, the age limit (30 years) for receiving student discount and requirement of a student allowance will be removed. HSL municipalities subsidize public transport journeys of students by about 28.5 million euros a year. Following the changes, the number of students receiving discount will increase. In the future, students will get a 45 per cent discount on season tickets. The discount will no longer apply to value tickets. Students can also buy discount tickets using the HSL app.

SMS tickets will be withdrawn on 27 April. The ticket overlaps with the single tickets sold on the HSL app. Most of the mobile phones currently in use are so called smartphones allowing people to buy mobile tickets. In addition, tram tickets will be withdrawn. All short journeys will cost the same in all zones and on all modes of transport.

More information:

New zones

HSL app

 

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