Take a train or a bus to travel between Spanish cities and then travel by public transport around the cities themselves, paying a single ticket. A kind of flat rate (annual or monthly) to use public transport: Spain intends to implement the single ticket from 2026.
This measure is already on the Government’s table, as part of its strategy to encourage the use of public transport, helping, in theory, reduce car use and improve air quality of our country. This is how it works in other European countries, and this is what it costs, but will it work to reduce road traffic?
A year to develop it and with the single Cercanías ticket as an appetizer
This measure was confirmed yesterday by Oscar PuenteMinister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, during his speech at the informative breakfast of the New Economy Forum. “The objective, and the challenge, is implement the single ticket in all public transport in Spain. Something that Germany has”.
The intention is to work throughout 2025 on this single ticket that will allow you to take buses and trains between cities, as well as the metro, city buses or trams. The Executive will have to decide which routes it includes (short, medium and long distance) and, in turn, coordinate with regional and municipal governments. Also determine your price.
@oscar_puente_ in it @NewEconomyForum:
“The objective for the year 2026 is to implement the single ticket in all public transport in Spain.” pic.twitter.com/hSK8edBn73
— Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (@transportesgob) January 9, 2025
From 90 to 60 euros per month. Spain has as its testing ground the one defined in Germany, but also in Austria. The single ticket in these two countries has its differences in terms of what type of transport it includes, as well as what it costs.
The German Deutschlandticket Since January 1, 2025, it has a price of 58 euros per month. In your case, it is valid for local trains (RB, RE, S-Bahn) of medium and short distances, as well as for metropolitan transport in cities (bus, tram, metro). They remain excluding long distance and high speed. It is nominative and renews automatically, although it can be canceled before the 10th of each month if it is not worth using it in a given month.
To say that this single German ticket has not always had that price: when was first released in summer 2021 (it was valid between June and August of that year) it was much cheaper: 9 euros. It was later increased to 49 euros and now, in 2025, the rate has risen almost 10 euros to the aforementioned 58 euros.
For his part, the Austrian is the so-called KlimaTicket. In your case, it is paid annually and has different rates by type of user. Being somewhat more expensive, the main difference with the German is that it does not restrict the type of transport: it is valid for short, medium and long distances. And it also includes any type of urban transport.
When it was released in October 2021, the KlimaTicket had a price ranging between 949 euros and 1,049 euros. Now it has gone up: for adults it is 1.205 euros and for the family member (an adult with up to four minors) of 1.205 euros. In addition, there are users who have a reduced price: young people up to 25 years old, users with reduced mobility or disabilities and those over 65 years old pay 821 euros.
It is also nominative and you can also choose the date on which it begins to count, to renew it later. For purposes, the normal one means paying just over 91 euros per month or 68 euros for those with a reduced rate.
A single ticket for Cercanías for 20 euros, from July. This national flat rate is a mere proposal, but what has already been approved is a single Cercanías ticket. The Council of Ministers gave it the green light at the end of December, along with the renewal of the transport pass bonuses and medium and long distance passes on trains or state buses.
The single Cercanías ticket will be available from July 1, 2025 and “can be used for all areas of each nucleus and in the rest of the Cercanías nuclei throughout Spain”, as detailed by the Ministry of Transportation.
It will have different rates by type of user: the adult rate will be 20 euros per monthfor young people between 15 and 26 years old it is 10 euros per month, while up to 15 years old it will be annual and completely free. In all cases, it will be nominative.
To make this measure possible and maintain the rest of the discounts in 2025, the Government has allocated a game of 1,600 million euros. Although communities also contribute. For example, for free subscriptions, the Executive contributes 30% (20% since July) while the additional 20%, or more, must be covered by the autonomies.
Should we leave the car at home if public transport is cheaper?
Oscar Puente has argued that “in the German case it has advantages and disadvantages, failures that also allow us to learn”. By this he means that it has had its lights and shadows since it was implemented.
When it was active for the first time between June and August, with a price of 9 euros, The volume of users increased significantly. What I supposed crowded platforms and trains. That is to say, in overpopulated areas such as the large Spanish capitals it must also be accompanied by a greater flow of trains and buses.
Furthermore, and although they imposed it again, another reason for leaving it in just two months is that it did not reduce traffic in German cities. Although there were reports that indicated the opposite. In any case what Yes, the volume of public transport users did increase.: A survey by Deutsche Bahn (DB), the German state railway operator, showed that a fifth of those who had used public transport in those months had not done so before.
Madrid itself serves as an example of whether lowering the price of transport tickets works to reduce road traffic. In 2023, free Cercanías passes were maintained in the capital, as well as a 50% discount for the transport pass, after its implementation in 2022.
But months later, a study signed by EsadeEcPol concluded that The traffic had been practically identical to the previous year, analyzing in real time the volume of cars on Madrid streets. It did reduce somewhat in more humble areas or where the public transport network is more complete, for example with several metro stops quite close to each other.
In other countries it has not meant that people left their cars at home to use public transport. In Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, completely free public transport for buses and trams has been imposed since 2016. And, although the number of users has increased, More than half of work trips continue to be made by car.
The price is not everything. EsadeEcPol pointed out among its conclusions what we previously pointed out: free or much cheaper tickets will be of no use if they are not accompanied by a reinforcement of the frequency of subways, trains or buses. Neither if the connections or lines available are insufficient: If going to work by public transport takes an hour and a half and doing it by car takes 15 minutes, users will continue to opt for the car if they have that possibility.
Not to mention the periphery of large cities, or transport within these peripheral municipalities, where it is common that no real alternatives to the car are offered.
To reduce pollution, the measures that have proven to be most effective are restrictive ones. For example, the implementation of urban tolls (London and now New York), anti-pollution protocols or restricted areas such as ZBEs. And the latter not so much: in Spain, although they have been mandatory for many cities for two years, only 20 have implemented them. Madrid itself has modified the calendar by applying a moratorium on cars without a label, which in theory since January would have the veto to circulate throughout the capital.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
