Milan is a vibrant city with several attractions and historical landmarks. Getting to these places is made easier with the Milan public transport. If you are in Milan for a short visit or staying here for a longer duration, buying a ticket or travel pass is necessary to use the metro, trams, and buses provided for public transport.
The tickets and travel passes are offered by Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (ATM), the organization that manages public transport within Milan. ATM is owned by the Milan municipality (Comune di Milano) and through its subsidiaries, it even operates the Copenhagen underground.
What are the various available tickets/travel cards?
There is a wide variety of tickets and travel passes available. These passes/cards range from an ordinary ticket valid for 90 minutes up to an annual travel card of 1 year. Before going into further details about each available card type, we need to know about the fare zones in Milan. There are 8 fare zones roughly concentric in shape representing Milan and neighboring municipalities. With the urban zone representing the city center, other zones are named Mi3, Mi4, and so forth, up to Mi9. There is an increment in fare as we move further up the zones. To keep it simple, only Urban zone fares are discussed going forward. More details on the entire fare system are on this ATM webpage .
- Ordinary ticket lasting 90 minutes from the time of first validation and costs 2.20€
- Daily pass valid for 24 hours from first validation and costs 7.60€
- 3-day pass valid for 3 consecutive days from the day of first validation up to the end of service on the third day. Costs 13€
- Weekly travel card valid only from Monday to Sunday of the same week and costs 18.50€ (for the Mi1-Mi3 zone)
- Monthly travel card valid for one calendar month and costs 39€
- Annual travel card valid for 12 consecutive months and costs 330€
Which ticket/travel pass should I buy?
So this will be mainly based on the duration and how often one uses public transport. If you are in Milan for a short visit of 1 day or a few hours, go with the ordinary ticket. If you plan on using public transport multiple times throughout the day, then the daily pass might be the better option.
For anything more than a day, a travel pass is worth your while. For a short trip of 2-3 days in Milan, a 3-day pass would work out best. As you can avoid buying the ordinary ticket multiple times due to its limited validity of 90 minutes. If the travel duration is slightly longer than 3 days, a weekly pass might be a good choice. Although, be aware that even if the weekly travel card is purchased mid-week, say on a Wednesday. It will only last up to the Sunday of the same week. Depending on the duration and day of the week, it is useful to decide between a 3-day pass and a weekly travel card.
On the other hand, if you are in Milan for more than 2 weeks, the monthly travel card works best. Likewise, for anything more than 9 months annual travel card is preferable. Although the fares for the monthly and annual travel cards might seem high, various concessions and subsidies are available. The discounts on travel cards in Milan are based on age and income. Children under the age of 14 are allowed to travel for free on public transport. For people under the age of 27, the monthly and annual travel card costs 22€ and 200€ respectively. Give this page a read if you want to know more about the reduced-rate travel card in Milan. It might be particularly useful if you are a student in Milan who uses public transport for your daily commute.
Why do I need a travel card?
The travel pass would save you the hassle of buying a ticket before every journey. It is convenient and allows you to travel at any time. The travel card gives you access to buses, trams, and the metro. As long as you are in the Urban zone and the travel card is purchased for the same zone, it can also be used for accessing suburban railways.
Also (mainly 😄), since public transport in Milan is not free. Although in all seriousness, transportation costs in Milan are comparable or slightly lower than its counterparts like other major cities around Europe.
How do I get a travel card?
Travel cards are charged to an electronic card. The electronic card can be obtained from ATM points, newsstands, tobacconists (Tabacchi), and bars. ATM points are designated offices within the subway stations and help carry out most operations. They are currently in the metro stops - Duomo, Centrale, Cadorna, Loreto, Garibaldi, Romolo, and Zara. Advice would be to book an appointment beforehand through the ATM app at any of these ATM points closest to you. The Electronic card is issued after filling in the Card Request Form along with a passport photo and valid ID proof. At ATM points, electronic cards are handed in immediately while there is a waiting time (around 2 weeks) if submitted through other outlets. The electronic card is valid for 4 years and costs 10€.
The electronic card obtained is empty to start with and will have to be charged based on your travel plan of choice like monthly or annual. The charging of electronic travel cards in Milan is through ATM points, automatic ticket machines at the stations, and other outlets like newsstands and tobacconists.
Do not forget to validate your ticket before the start of your journey. Without stamping, tickets are considered invalid and could lead to fines. Likewise, travel cards are validated through the totem poles that are present in every station before using them the first time of their recharged plan. In case the electronic card is lost or stolen, a new card will be issued for a charge of 15€, and upon presenting a valid ID document.
Conclusion
Now that you know of various available tickets and travel cards for using Milan’s public transport, I hope it makes your planning and commutes much easy. If you are in Milan for a short visit then purchasing a single ticket or daily pass is a good choice.
However, buying individual tickets each time you wish to travel becomes an inconvenience over long periods. Furthermore, having a travel card will be a better option economically for frequent users.
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