Madrid launches a digital travel pass: forget the physical card in 2026

Madrid digitises the travel pass and eliminates the physical card. More than three million users can now validate journeys with their mobile phone. The Mi Tarjeta Transporte app arrives on Android and soon on iOS. Discover how it works and what changes in public transport.

Since January, Madrid has revolutionised its public transport network by allowing travel-pass users to validate their journeys directly with their mobile phones. The new Mi Tarjeta Transporte application, promoted by the Madrid Regional Transport Consortium (CRTM), marks the end of the physical card for more than three million travellers.

The official presentation took place at Cuatro Caminos station. There, councillors Miguel López-Valverde and Jorge Rodrigo demonstrated how to access the Metro using only their mobile phones.

The app, available for Android 9.0 or later, makes it possible to digitise the monthly pass through Google Wallet. The process consists of holding the physical card against the mobile’s NFC reader, following a few simple steps and transferring the pass to the digital format.

Once digitisation is complete, the physical card is blocked. From that moment, users can validate journeys by holding the mobile phone against readers on the Metro, urban and intercity buses, light rail and Cercanías.

This new feature joins the digitisation of multi-journey tickets, already available. Before the end of January, the children’s card and the blue card are also expected to be digitised. The CRTM is working to incorporate annual company passes and for the functionality to reach iOS devices during 2026.