The Barcelona metro wants to put an end to single tickets: it now allows entry without the need for physical proof

Buying a ticket from the vending machines seemed like the only way to access the subway, but in recent years we are seeing that there are better options. Barcelona has shown that T-Mobilitat is a viable alternative to paper and these weeks another project has been launched in the Catalan capital’s metro to continue eliminating the need for physical tickets.

The solution is called Tap&Go and consists of being able to enter the subway by paying with a bank card, but without having to buy a physical ticket. Instead of going to the vending machine or using the mobile application, the new system that Metropolitan Transport of Barcelona (TMB) has begun to implement is a machine right next to the crossing barriers where you can pay contactless.

The system is not new, although its use in the Barcelona metro is. For some years now it has been successfully tested in the TMB buses or in the Seville metro. Now it has begun to spread in the Barcelona metro, starting from Sants Station.

The single ticket costs 2.55 euros on the Barcelona metro. This is a ticket for sporadic travelers. Until now, it had to be purchased the same as the rest of the T-Mobilitat tickets, but with the new system everything is much simpler.

The user approaches the machine, swipes their bank card and manual access to the subway will be granted. What happens is that This traveler will not have any type of receipt or ticket.

How will the reviewers then verify that this person has not slipped in? Using the last four numbers of the credit card. The conductors have ticket validation systems based on the time and origin of the payment. In order to justify that they have a ticket, the user must provide those last four digits to the conductor.

The problem is that This system is not directly compatible with the contactless T-Mobilitat network. That is, the automatic machines where you pay normally do not allow payments by bank card. For this reason, an additional machine has been added to the side. For the subway user it is not a problem, what happens is that the door does not open by itself and a security member is needed to open the door manually. Due to this, the system is currently only allowed from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Since its launch a few weeks ago, according to describes La Vanguardia, Between 700 and 900 daily validations have been registered. Sants is a particular metro station within the TMB network, because many travelers arrive on long-distance trains. According to TMB, around 1,400 single tickets are recorded daily at this station, much higher than the usual average at other stations.

After testing it in specific events such as Primavera SoundBarcelona has now started allowing access to the metro without purchasing a physical ticket. One more step in the digitalization that began with the pandemic and is arriving little by little.

Image | TMB

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