Bus number 615 on old HEL signs now points to history
Older guidebooks and blogs still tell you to “take bus 615” from Helsinki Airport, but that route number is now retired and no longer appears on the T1/T2 HSL bus displays. One confused r/travel poster even asked why 615 “doesn’t exist on the display anymore,” which sums up the current situation pretty well.
Historically, regional bus 615 linked HEL to the city for a few euros, running between Terminals 1 and 2 and central Helsinki several times per hour. After the Ring Rail Line opened in 2015 and later bus network changes, HSL renumbered and restructured airport routes, so the old 615 pattern into town is gone even though the price point and general idea (cheap public transport) remain via other services.
Today, locals on r/Helsinki usually redirect visitors to bus 600 or the I/P trains from the airport station, instead of 615. A current ABC-zone ticket from the HSL machine in T2 arrivals costs roughly the same as the old 615 fare (around €4–€5), and covers one full 80–90 minute public transport journey into central Helsinki, including transfers to trams or buses.
Complaints in r/Finland and r/travel are mostly about outdated info, not about the ride quality: people feel misled by English-language blogs that still tell them to “find 615” outside T2. Some threads date back to 2020 and earlier, and those posts don’t reflect later bus and train network tweaks that shifted passengers off the old 615 route and onto the ring rail plus newer bus numbers.
Regulars say the fix is simple: ignore any mention of 615 and use the official HSL Route Planner or app at HEL Terminals 1 and 2 before you leave arrivals. They often point first-timers to the train (I or P line) every 10–15 minutes, plus bus 600 as a backup from the airport bus stops marked with the blue HSL logo.
Practical tip: if a blog or YouTube video mentions 615 by name, check its publication date; anything pre-2019 is suspect, and you should double-check the current route number on an HSL screen in T2 baggage claim before heading to the bus stands.