Discounts on transportation for students and senior citizens will be reduced from the current 75 to 50% of the fare, the government decided among other things yesterday. This change will take effect in April.
Transport Minister Martin Kupka said that the discounts would remain in place, as motivation for people to use public transport, but reiterated that responsible state budget management is one of the top priorities of the new government.
“We will keep the fare discounts, but at the amount of 50%. We will set up the system so that travelling by trains and buses remains beneficial for people. At the same time, the system must be affordable for the state budget, the stabilisation of public finances and the end of debt remain our key commitment,” said Kupka.
The measure was introduced in 2018. The main goal of the students and retirees discount is to make transport between cities and all around the Czech Republic more affordable for groups of people with lower-income.
Students under the age of 26 and retirees over 65 now only pay 25% of the normal price and need to present a valid identity card (national I.D., passport, student card, ISIC, etc.) when purchasing the tickets.
Both Czech and non-Czech nationals are able to benefit from the discount.
Valid for all national long-distance and regional train and bus lines, the discount doesn’t apply for urban public transport – in Prague, for instance, students and seniors are already entitled to a discount of more than 50% on all long-term tickets.
In trains, the discount only applies for 2nd class seats.
