PID (Prague Integrated Transports) - Tickets
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The tickets (Prague Integrated Transport tickets) can be used on all subways, buses, trams, trains and furniculars and transfers among them.
Peak and off-peak traffic hours
Peak: Working days from 5 am. to 8 pm.
Off-peak: Weekdays from 8 pm to 5 am. Weekends and holiday: Jan 1, May 1, May 8, July 5 and 6, Sep 28, Oct 28, Nov 17, Dec 24 to 26.
Type of tickets
| Valid (peak/off-peak) | Zones | Regular/discount (KC) |
| 15 min | 3 (up to 5 stations ) | 14/7 |
| 75/90 min | 3 | 20/10 |
| 120 min | 4 | 24/13 |
| 150 min | 5 | 30/16 |
| 180 min | 6 | 36/19 |
| 210 min | 7 | 42 /22 |
| 240 min | 8 | 48/25 |
Day Passes: 1-day (80 Kc/$4) 3-days (220 Kc/$11), 7-days (280 Kc/$14), 15-days (320 Kc/$16).
Time validity is calculated in minutes (eventually days for long term tickets) and tells how long you can stay inside the transport area. Before entering metro or train stations or upon entering the trams or buses you must validate your ticket in a yellow machine. The date, time, numerical code and the station abbreviation will be marked on it. The conductor looked at the date and the two-letter code of the initial station to determine the validity of your tickets.
The city of Prague is divided into seven zones designed P, 1,2,3,4 and 5. “P” is the zone at very center of the city. 1 is the border zone of the city. Further in 2,3,4,5 lie villas, towns and cities which are not governed by Prague city hall but many inhabitants commute to Prague from those areas, thus the city extends their trains and buses there. The P zone is a triple zone – if you want to travel inside the P zone – your must buy tickets for three zones. This is probably because of the higher density of transport in the center.
It can be very confusing, you'd better check this zone map.
If you plan to travel to distant zones like “5” by train, do not buy tickets from the Czech railways. They cost more in most cases and can't be use for transfers. Buy from PID tickets which look like the ones below.
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Validating machinen |
Ticket vending machine | Ticket printed from vending machine |
Ticket bought at a kiosk |
Validating Machines
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They are inside each metro stop before you heading down the escalators. They are not on the metro, so validate it before it's too late. Sometimes the police stay at the entrance/exit to check your tickets. I saw the caught quite a few.
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Similar, there is no validating machine on bigger trains, but might be in some smaller trains.
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They are on the buses and trams.
 Bigger train |
 Smaller train |
Where you can buy tickets
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At the Tourist's Information Center.
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At vending machines at all metro and train station. (they have all sort of tickets)
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At many kiosks which sell newspaper, candies, etc.
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On train and bus but not on tram and metro. (You pay more if you buy on the train, and the ticket is non-transferable.)
***Tips:
Now think about it. If these bad scenarios happen to you all at one, and your next ride is approaching, what are you going to do? (I was in all of these situations.) |
Brief Example:
- You are at Masarykova train station in the center of Prague and want to travel to a small village of Celakovice, zone “2” and back. (see the zones map). Your body will travel in space of zones “P,0,1,2”.
- Because “P” is a double zone, you need to buy a 5-zone ticket for 30 Kc ($1.5). A 30Kc ticket valid up to 150 minutes. The train-ride lasts 50 minutes. If you handle a quick affair, you can use the same ticket for your return trip.
- Remember to watch out for the elapsed time.
- If you have already bought, for example, a 7-days ticket for 280 Kc, use it and decide to travel to Celakovice you need to buy only a ticket for zone “1,2”, because 2-zones ticket doesn't exists you can buy return ticket from Czech Railways from last station in zone “1” - which is Horni Pocernice to Celakovice station for 30 Kc and is valid for 24 hours.
Baby and Kid Discounts
- Babies and kids <= 5 years old travel for free.
- 10KC ticket for a baby-coach is needed
- 6 to 14 years old can travel for half price.
Large Luggage & Items
- Pay 10 Kc if you carry something bigger than 250mm x 450mm x 700mm, or 1500mm length x 200m diameter, or 1000mm x 1000mm x 50mm.
- Pay 20Kc for Bicycle.
| ***Warning: It is prohibited to consume food or drink inside the vehicles or metros. Because of momentum of inertia, food and drink unpredictably fly over heads of passengers, leaving them dirty and wet in case of sudden velocity deceleration. It is also convenient to offer your butt-comforter to old people if you see one standing; it's harder for them to handle their own weight than it is for us young athletes. |
Deadhead Beware
- If you plan on not paying for using PID then you have relatively high chance not be caught (only 6,500,000 out of total 1,100,000,000 transported persons per year).
- If you are caught on the crime scene without ticket, the conductor who checks you has no right to legitimate your identity and has no right to enforce you by any mean. You have the right to remain talkative and ask to see his/her badge, service card and service number of that inspector. Verify the service number. (Sometimes fake inspectors earn money from this scheme).
- The inspector will probably charge you a penalty of 300KC ($15). You can reject the penalty.
- Then the inspector writes down a new penalty of 500KC which will be delivered to your address. He will ask for your ID. It is up to you to hand over the data or not. He does not have the authority of a policeman.
- It's a different situation when the inspector is accompanied by a policeman or there is a nearby policeman. (You're officially screwed.) This policeman can enforce you to show your ID or escort you to a police station.
- Finally, when it is revealed that you are an officially deadhead, do not expect any help from bystanders as you have lost their sympathy.. They will enjoy your one man show explaining your way out of this ridiculous mess.
For more information, visit www.dpp.cz.
