Public transport fares to be frozen in Barcelona area for 2019

Fares on public transport in Barcelona will not go up in the new year. The Metropolitan Transport Authority, the consortium that manages public transport services in the greater Barcelona area, announced on Thursday that ticket prices will be frozen for 2019.

The reason for the fare freeze is a lack of agreement on how to apply the 2% increase demanded by the government. The territory and sustainability minister, Damià Calvet, said that means the authorities will have 25 million euros less to spend on improving transport.

In 2017, a plan was agreed to make various improvements to the public transport system, and Calvet says that the lack of agreement means the government will now have to adopt "containment policies" to minimize costs.

However, the councilor for mobility in Barcelona's city council, Mercedes Vidal, welcomed the fare freeze and responded to the minister by saying that not raising ticket prices "does not contradict" the improvement plans.