The capital’s Metro is automating Line 6, has already incorporated digital passes, and a new change could soon be added. In the coming months, the Community will launch a new smart payment system that breaks away from the logic of tickets, booklets, or passes, and moves toward a simple idea: pay only for what you use, and let the system automatically apply the cheapest possible option.
Until now, the experience of a Madrid traveler has involved choosing a ticket type—a single-ride ticket, a 10-trip pass, a monthly zone pass, or a single-state pass. The new model, based on Account-Based Ticketing (ABT) technology, turns the system on its head. Now, each user will have a digital profile linked to a contactless bank card, a mobile device (NFC), or a QR code. Every time they validate their ticket on the Metro, EMT, or intercity buses, the system records the trip but does not charge immediately. At the end of the day (or the defined period), the system recalculates all trips and applies the cheapest possible fare combination based on actual usage of the network.
In practice, travelers no longer have to decide whether a monthly pass or a 10-trip pass is worth it: the system makes that decision for them and ensures they won’t pay more than the best available option based on how much they’ve traveled.
How it will work in practice
The ABT system is already in use in cities like London, Sydney, and some German transit networks, and Madrid will adapt it to its own fare structure. The idea is that if you make few trips in a day, you’ll be charged the equivalent of single-ride tickets or a low daily cap.
If you start traveling more, the system will gradually increase the cost until it matches or exceeds what a 10-trip pass would have cost you.
If you exceed a certain usage threshold, the system stops charging per trip and effectively converts you to a daily or monthly pass, ensuring that you never pay more than someone who purchased that pass from the start.
All of this is done automatically, without the user having to switch tickets or top up anything beyond their usual payment method. Payment is consolidated into a single charge at the end of the day (or cycle), with a breakdown of trips and savings applied.
The Community of Madrid has allocated an initial investment of 40 million euros to roll out the new smart payment system, with a 10-year development and maintenance contract. The goal is to gradually integrate all modes of transportation under this digital umbrella: Metro, EMT, intercity buses, Light Rail, and—in coordination with the national government—commuter rail and national services wherever possible.
It won’t be an overnight change, as the new system will coexist for a time with the traditional card and current tickets, but it clearly signals the direction of Madrid’s transportation model.