A metro ticket that can be used to take the subway in Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia. This is the idea just announced by Óscar Puente, the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, who has promised a single ticket for all public transport nationwide by 2026.
This new ticket would be a kind of flat rate with which the user could use trains, buses or subways of any Spanish city indistinctly, emulating a system that already works in Germany and that allows “travel” throughout the country for 58 euros per month.
How will the single transport ticket be applied?
This single ticket is born in response to the progressive disappearance of the transport bonuses implemented since 2022 to mitigate the effects of inflation. The minister explained that, during the first half of 2025, “a part” of the bonuses will be maintained. However, in the second half of the year, these bonuses will be gradually reduced to give way to the single ticket during the following fiscal year. This system will be financed with resources from the Government and the autonomous communities.
This single ticket, which is still at an early stage of development, will consist of a single transport card for train and bus throughout Spain. “It is something that Germany has, which has its advantages and disadvantages and failures that allow us to learn”, commented Puente, who considers that this measure will provide greater comfort to users, as well as allowing “a better distribution of resources and to start focusing efforts on the quality of public transport”.
The government has been promoting the use of public transport with the application of these bonuses for some years now . This year,the price of public transport in Barcelona has remained almost the same thanks to these bonuses, which will continue until 2025, and it is hoped that this single flat-rate ticket for the whole country will be a continuation of this type of policy.