Tip of the day – Tap2Ride: the new contactless system of public transport of Athens

• January 16, 2025

From 15 January, there is a new contactless payment system “tap2ride” using a bank card for boarding on all means of transport. Thus, passengers, in addition to ATH.ENA Ticket or ATH.ENA Card, will be able to use their debit – credit – prepaid card or their “smart” mobile phone to board public transport. It should be recalled that since last April, the implementation of this contactless payment system had been piloted on the buses of the Express lines of Athens International Airport (X93, X95, X96, X97). Where, according to OASA’s data, the penetration of the EMV – Tap & Pay application is remarkable, among passengers travelling on the Express Airport bus lines, since payment by bank cards is increasing. Since the launch of the pilot, more than 90,000 users have used the service and the average transaction rate is 9% of all transactions carried out on Express vehicles.

So, now, passengers using all means of transports (metro, buses, tram) will be able to pay for their ticket contactlessly by swiping their bank card over the validation machines with the contactless transaction indicator and the value of the journey will be charged to the passenger’s account. With this new service, Athens joins the list of European cities such as Madrid, Milan, and London that enable passengers to travel in a simple, safe and comfortable way, contributing to the increase in public transport use.

The benefits for the passenger: 

With the implementation of the use of bank cards to board public transport, passengers will not need to:

• Purchase a ticket through ticket offices or ticket machines (AMEC).
• To know the available travel products in order to choose the appropriate one. The system, when fully deployed, will charge the passenger the most economical fare product based on his/her travel. An extremely useful feature for passengers who are unfamiliar with the Athens commuter system, such as visitors from other cities and tourists.
• To search for points of sale, or wait in queues to buy a ticket in order to travel by public transport.

You can learn more about the available tickets of Athens transport here, but, hey, probably you won’t need it. Just get on at the metro or bus or tram you  want and use your debit/credit/prepaid card!