Euskotren posts a record-breaking year in 2024 with nearly 54 million journeys
- The use of the transport services was up 12.67% on 2023, driven by the 50% discount and by the network expansion
- The Basque Minister for Sustainable Mobility stressed the citizens are "clearly opting" for public transport
Euskotren, the publicly-owned company under the Basque Government's Ministry for Sustainable Mobility enjoyed a record-breaking 2024 in the demand for its public transport services with nearly 54 million journeys. The Basque Government's Minister for Sustainable Mobility, Susana García Chueca, announced last year's figures during a visit to the control centre of the Vitoria-Gasteiz tramway, which has seen one of the main increases in passengers. 'The general public are seizing the benefits of the public transport discounts and are clearly opting for sustainable forms of travelling by train, tramway and bus', the minister with the transport portfolio stressed.
Euskotren covered the travel needs of millions of people in 2024, with 53,995,283 journeys between five train lines (E1, E2, E3, E4 and E5), the L3 of Metro Bilbao underground, the two Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bizkaia tramway services, the Larreineta funicular railway, and the Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa bus lines that the publicly-owned company manages. This figure was up 12.67% on the previous year and was again driven by the 50% discounts and the expansion of the network, such as the Vitoria-Gasteiz tramway to the Salburua neighbourhood. The figure is the highest of the company's 40 years of history, four decades when Euskotren has provided a total of 1.3 billion journeys.
The use of the Euskotren services increased in all its operating units: 10.7% in railway, underground and funicular; 19.37% in tramways and 8.71% in buses. Susana García Chueca stressed that these figures were driven by 'everybody acquiring more sustainable mobility habits and deciding to reduce CO2 emissions'.
By services, Vitoria-Gasteiz tramway experienced the greatest growth with nearly 11 million tickets validated (10,920,991), which was up 20.68% on the 2023 figures and set a new record for the 16 years it has been running. Another record was also beaten in 2024, when there were more than a million monthly passengers (1.07 million) for the first time; a milestone that was also repeated in November and December (with 1.02 and 1.05 million, respectively).
The growth in the use of the tramway in Vitoria-Gasteiz was, on the one hand, down to the 50% discounts on fares and, on the hand, to the improved service with the Salburua branch line coming into service.
BIZKAIA SERVICES
The public services managed by Euskotren in Bizkaia were used 12.6% more in 2024 than in 2023. In total, there were more than 22 million journeys, nearly 2.5 million up on the previous year.
The journeys on the L3 of the Bilbao Metro – a total of 7,039,958 – rose by 18.3% in the last year (there were 5,948,357 in 2023), while the use of buses increased by 12.1%. In the case of the Bilbao tramway, the number rose by 15.7% (3,759,453 journeys in 2024).
GIPUZKOA SERVICES
The railway lines and bus services of Gipuzkoa managed by Euskotren posted growth of 1.7 million journeys, which was up 8.5%.
The train was the most used of the Euskotren services in Gipuzkoa, specifically, the Topo line (E2 Lasarte/Oria-Hendaye line), which accounted for nearly 12 million passengers (11,991,153) of the total of nearly 17.5 that the railway recorded in Gipuzkoa in 2024.
Tramway control centre
The whole of the Vitoria-Gasteiz tramway system is controlled from the control centre located next to the engine sheds and workshops n Ibaiondo, next to the last stop of the branch line of the same name. The movement of the 16 trams – series 500 and series 600 – that are currently serving the public in this city is overseen from there. There are a total of 270 tram movements a day, whose safety is ensured from the centre, which also manages disruptions and incidents to the service.