Prague is considered to be one of the cheapest capital cities in terms of public transportation in Europe. In fact, the yearly price for the ticket is 1100 CZK cheaper than a yearly ticket in Brno, the second biggest city in Czech republic. So if you are interested in how the public transportation in Prague works, keep reading our blog post! 🙂
Metro system
There are three metro lines in Prague: green line (A), yellow line (B) and red line (C ) operating every day from 5am to 12pm. In fact, the construction of the forth blue metro line (D) is planned to be ready by the year 2029 and should have more modern attributes such as driverless operation or modern light trains, longitudinally passing between cars with security walls with sliding doors between the platform and the rails.
Tram and bus system
Trams and buses operate from 4:30am until 12pm during daytime and from 12pm to 4:30am during the night time, or in other words, 24 hours a day. Night trams are numbered from number 51 – 59 operating every 30 minutes. Night buses are numbered from number 501 – 514 and 601 – 604. Although night trams and buses are less frequent, you always have an option to get home by public transport.
Why to use public transportation rather than a car
There are multiple reasons why you should use public transport and not your car. First of all, the traffic in the mornings when everybody commutes to work or school can be intense and stressful. If you choose to use the tram or metro, you can avoid being stuck in traffic and therefore being late to your meetings. Second of all, in terms of spending money on commuting, using public transportation is much more convenient for your wallet. Third of all, if you use public transport you don’t have to deal with full parking spots which is many times the case in bigger cities. And if you´re afraid that your transport vehicle would be late, don´t worry, the frequency of departures between each metro train is every 2-3 minutes during the day peak.
Types and prices for tickets and how and where to purchase them
There are several types of tickets for public transportation. Depending on your time spent in Prague, you can get either short-term or long-term tickets.
Short-term tickets
In case your time spent in Prague is limited to a short-time period, you have several options of ticket types:
- 30min ticket
- 90 min ticket
- 24h ticket
- 72h ticket
All of these short-term tickets are available to purchase in every metro station, some bus/tram stations, news stands or sometimes inside of the tram/bus. You can pay by cash or credit card as well. And if it’s more convenient for you, you can use an app and have all of your tickets in one place on your smartphone. All you have to do is to download the app “PID Lítačka” available on Android and iOS as well and don´t forget to validate it before entering your transport vehicle.
Here’s an overview of prices for short-term tickets:
| Ticket type | Price |
| 30 min | 30 CZK |
| 90 min | 40 CZK |
| 24 h | 120 CZK |
| 72 h | 330 CZK |
Long- term tickets
In case you plan to stay in Prague at least for a month and more you should purchase one of the long-term tickets, or more often called “Lítačka”. Depending on your stay in Prague, the tickets you can purchase are following:
- 30 days ticket
- 90 days ticket
- 1 year ticket
Here’s an overview of prices for long-term tickets:
| Ticket type |
Price |
| 30 days | 550 CZK |
| 90 days | 1480 CZK |
| 1 year | 3650 CZK |
Wondering how to get your new Lítačka? There are three ways:
-
- Register online at pidlitacka.cz, fill out a form and wait until your Lítačka is ready for you to pick up at one of the branch offices or you can have it sent by Czech Post to your place.
- Fill out a form at one of the branch offices. The time until your Lítačka is ready to be picked up is up to 30 days, however in most cases it should be ready by two weeks.
- If you don’t want to wait, there´s an option to pick it up at the counter at Škoduv palác (Jungmannova 35/29, Prague 1). However in this case you have to pay 200 CZK extra. The administrative officer fills the form out for you and your ticket is ready in 10 min. Make sure to bring your ID and a picture of yourself with you.
Ticket inspections
We recommend not to risk and always have your valid ticket with you while using public transportation in Prague. The controls are very frequent and you never know when to expect it. The ticket inspectors can check you anytime in the tram/bus/ metro train or anywhere in the underground space. In case you don’t have a valid ticket, you can get caught by ticket inspectors very easily. As a result, be ready to pay 700 Kč if you pay right away, otherwise 950 Kč.
In conclusion, the public transport system in Prague is very easy to understand, well-connected and reliable. In case you consider commuting to Locus workspace, use the green metro line (A) and get off at Jiřího z Poděbrad station. If you use a tram, use the same station with trams number 11 or 13. Two other tram lines, 10 and 16, and bus 201 stop at Perunova or Vinohradská vodárna, just around the corner of the coworking space. All of the mentioned stations are within 5min walking distance from Locus workspace.
For more detailed information you can always visit the official website of the prague transportation department.
