Lux Express carried a record number of passengers in Estonia last year

In 2024, Lux Express buses transported 2.1 million passengers in Estonia, setting a new record in the company's history. To meet the growing demand, the company plans to introduce more comfortable buses and open new stops to further promote domestic tourism in Estonia.  

Lux Express, which has been operating for nearly 30 years, previously set its record in 2019, when 1.9 million passengers traveled on Estonian routes. In the following years, affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the number of passengers declined. However, last year, interest in bus travel rebounded, surpassing the previous record by 8.6%.

“This result shows that our efforts to provide the best intercity mobility service have paid off. More and more people prefer traveling by bus instead of by car, as it is more comfortable, safer, and saves both money and the environment,” said Ingmar Roos, a member of Lux Express’s management board.

Lux Express operates a total of ten routes in Estonia, with the most popular being the Tallinn-Tartu route. Last year, over 720,000 passengers traveled by bus between these two cities, which is a 21% increase compared to 2023.

“The exceptional growth was influenced by the confusion caused by the Tallinn-Tartu railway repairs. The situation turned weekends and holidays into rescue operations for us, where we had to quickly find extra buses to accommodate not only our regular passengers but also those who usually traveled by train,” explained Roos. "Since demand remained consistently high after summer, Lux Express decided in autumn to add 1,000 extra seats per week to ensure that all travelers—especially on weekends and early mornings—could be served."

Even though 28 daily departures operate on peak-demand days in both directions, Lux Express added 757 additional trips between Tallinn and Tartu throughout the year. This allowed 42,000 more passengers to travel comfortably. Across all Estonian routes, Lux Express made 976 additional trips, accommodating 55,000 extra passengers.

In addition to the Tallinn-Tartu route, other Lux Express domestic destinations also experienced growth last year, including Tallinn-Haapsalu, Tallinn-Pärnu, Tallinn-Kuressaare, Tallinn-Võru, Tallinn-Narva, Tartu-Narva, and Tartu-Pärnu. 

Additionally, passengers warmly welcomed the new routes introduced last year, Pärnu-Karksi-Nuia and Tallinn-Kärdla. Additionally, the new routes introduced last year — Pärnu-Karksi-Nuia and Tallinn-Kärdla—were well received by passengers.

“As a private company, we have built a route network covering all Estonian counties, which undoubtedly supports regional development, labor mobility, educational travel, and domestic tourism. We have many plans to further connect Estonian cities and people,” said Roos.

This year, the main goals for developing Estonia’s route network are to introduce new buses on the Tallinn-Tartu route and to relocate the final stop for buses arriving from Tartu to the center of Tallinn.

“We have received a lot of feedback from our passengers expressing their wish to reach the city center directly by bus in Tallinn. Therefore, we are working to find the best solution for passengers in cooperation with the Tallinn city government,” said Roos.