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Alicante's Tram and bus fares are going up, but there's good news for pensioners
New rules kick in this month with higher ticket prices, fresh monthly passes and some prices staying put
If you use the Alicante Tram or the TAM bus network, your journeys are about to cost a little more. New fare rules came into force this Thursday 1 October, bringing increases to several ticket types alongside a few genuinely useful additions.The basic single ticket rises from €1.45 to €1.50, now matching the equivalent fare on Metrovalencia. The ever popular Bono 10, the ten trip ticket for the Tram, climbs from €4.80 to €5.40, which works out at €0.54 per journey. According to regional sources, that's still the cheapest per trip rate among Spain's major tram and metro networks, well below Seville's €0.82, the Basque Country's €0.87, Madrid's €0.73 and Barcelona's €1.25.
There's better news if you're a senior citizen though. Both the Monthly and Annual Senior Citizen Passes are staying exactly as they are, with no price increase at all, as are the Monthly and Annual Mobility Passes.
For the TAM bus network, the picture is similar. The Móbilis Multi-Trip Pass, covering 10 journeys, rises from €5.25 to €5.40 after discount, while the Móbilis School Pass goes from €8.25 to €8.50. The Móbilis Youth Pass holds steady at €10.60 for now, though it's being phased out by the end of the year.
Perhaps the biggest change is the arrival of two brand new options, the Monthly Móbilis Pass and the Monthly Móbilis Youth Pass, both offering unlimited travel for 30 days rather than a fixed number of trips. These will cost €35 and €29.75 respectively, bringing Alicante in line with how Valencia and Castellón de la Plana already run their equivalent passes. From January, once further discounts kick in, the youth version is expected to drop to just €15.
If you already hold a Móbilis Multi-Trip or School pass, there's no need to panic. Anything bought before 30 September can still be used until 31 October, and can be exchanged for the new system, with any price difference paid, until the end of December.
Families and younger travellers haven't been forgotten either. Free travel for children under 14 continues, and the general 40% discount on multi-trip tickets remains in place until at least the end of the year. Anyone under 31 can also keep enjoying discounts of up to 50% on eligible tickets.
One final practical note for residents of Agost, Aigües and Busot: the TAM network is expanding to include you in the single zone tickets and most of the multi-trip and youth options too.
Image: wikicommons
