Madrid now allows entry across all its public transport with a bank card, without buying a ticket

The new feature is especially practical for tourists, visitors and occasional users. In this first phase, the system automatically purchases a single ticket and coexists with the usual passes and ticket types of the Consorcio Regional de Transportes.

To make this possible, 1,249 ticket gates have been enabled across the network. In stations with older equipment, at least two entrances now allow direct bank-card payment, while other devices also include QR-code reading.

The Metro was the missing piece in a rollout that Madrid had been extending for years. EMT already accepts bank cards on its buses, the intercity buses across the whole Community added this option in July 2025, and Cercanías allows direct payment by card or mobile phone by validating when entering and leaving.

That still does not mean that Madrid has a single transport account valid interchangeably on Metro, bus and train. For now, each network maintains its own rules and fares, so changing mode may entail a new payment even when the same bank card is used.

That will be precisely the next major change. The Community is working on a system based on Account-Based Ticketing technology that will identify trips made with a card or digital device and automatically apply the fare combination most favourable to the user.

The difference is particularly noticeable on unplanned trips. Someone arriving in Madrid and needing to travel a few stations can go directly from the concourse to the platform, avoiding the need to find a machine, choose a ticket type and acquire a specific medium before beginning the journey.

Madrid is thus moving towards transport in which the bank card increasingly functions as an access key. The system has not yet achieved the full integration promised for the coming years, but since June, entering the Metro requires one less step, and for millions of occasional trips that small change is noticeable from the first gate.