The authority behind the network

Who we are

One island, one network

The Isle of Vess is 412 km² of basalt, moss and weather, 212,000 people and one city — Goldhaven, which locals still call Aurhavn, the golden harbour. Everything the authority runs stays on the island: 5 lines, 30 stations and piers, and 3 modes that share one fare system and one timetable.

We are a public body with a simple remit: move people safely, affordably and often enough that they do not need to think about it. We do not run buses, taxis or cycle hire — that is the city’s job. We run the rails, the wires and the water.

In 2025 the network carried 23.4 million journeys. 97.9% of scheduled services operated, and 93.6% of them arrived within three minutes of the timetable.

How we speak to the public

Plainly, in both languages, and without hiding behind jargon. Every station, pier and announcement carries its Havnsk name and its English name — Aðalstöð is Central Station, and both are on the signs. When something goes wrong we say what happened, what we are doing about it, and when we expect to be back to normal.

The island

Where we run

Vess rises to 612 m at Kaldurstindur (Cold Peak), the ridge that gives M2 its name. The city wraps around Gullvik — the Golden Bay — with the Old Town on the west shore, the docks on the east, and the North Sound beyond the ridge.

The climate is North Atlantic: fog in spring, wind most of the year, 18 hours of daylight in June and long, dark winters. The ferries run in almost anything; when the sound is too rough for the north isles, we say so on this site and at the pier.

The island has been continuously settled since the 1600s, chartered as a city in 1786, and has run its own transport since 1868. It uses the króna (kr), speaks Havnsk and English, and keeps UTC+0 time.