A new report by Greenpeace has found that public transport costs are at a new high across 14 of Europe’s capital cities since 2023, with price rises up to 67% in some places. The scope of the research included 27 European Union nations, as well as the UK, Switzerland, and Norway, and their respective capitals.
The cost of long-term public transport tickets matters, the eco champions say in their “Public Transport and Climate Tickets” review, because expensive prices affect people’s decisions about whether or not to switch from cars to public transport. Against that context, the group has named and shamed a ranking of cities where the biggest rises for monthly and annual tickets were recorded. The steepest increase was in Nicosia (+67%), then Amsterdam (+55%), Madrid (+50%), Bratislava (+32%), Berlin (+29%) and Vienna (+26%).
Passenger costs also went up “significantly” Greenpeace said, in Copenhagen (+18%), Bucharest (+18%), Brussels (+12%), Vilnius (+10%), London (+10%), Stockholm (+9%), Paris (+8%), and Helsinki (+5%).
Nearly all the sharpest price hikes occurred in cities that now feature in a list of the 10 most expensive European capitals for monthly public transport. The most expensive by some way was London (€162 per month), followed by Amsterdam (€107), then Paris (€77), Stockholm (€64), Nicosia (€60), Berlin (€58), Copenhagen (€57), Dublin (€57), Helsinki (€49) and Zagreb (€45). But the worst in Europe based on the availability, affordability, and inclusivity of long-term public transport tickets are Paris (#28), London (#29), and Amsterdam (#30).
At the other end of the scale, Greenpeace applauded Prague (€15), Rome (€21) and Sofia (€25) for offering the cheapest available long-term ticket options (excluding the three cities where public transport is free of charge – Luxembourg City, Tallinn, and Valletta).
The environmental pressure group also praised four European capitals where the cost of the cheapest available long-term ticket or comparable fare option has in fact fallen since 2023: Dublin (-43%), Oslo (-12%), Bern (-7%) and Budapest (-6%). The group also noted the cost has remained unchanged in 12 other capitals.
For travellers and would-be digital nomads seeking affordable places to visit and live in, the Greenpeace ranking of transport costs is useful for maximising their travel budget, but Greenpeace is going further—using the findings to highlight the importance of ticket prices in shifting travel away from cars and towards public transport, at a time when Europe is “facing an accelerating climate crisis, with record-breaking heatwaves and severe droughts, as well as a cost-of-living crisis and inflation.”
| Country | Price difference 2023-2026 |
| Germany | +28.6% |
| Austria | +27.9% |
| Belgium | +16.2% |
| Switzerland | +3.5% |
| Czechia | 0% |
| Hungary | 0% |
Greenpeace also underlines the “renewed geopolitical imperative to strengthen energy security, given the shocks to global energy markets and supply chains caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine and, more recently, the conflict involving Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.”
With the European bloc having failed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, and transport still the main driver of oil demand worldwide, the study authors deplored the fact that up to six percent of Europeans say they cannot use public transport because it is too expensive, and up to 15% of the population in European countries use public transport but find it a heavy financial burden.
The group is urging policymakers to bring in what they are calling a “climate ticket” for use on all forms of public transport in a country or wider region. The strategy is “a question of political will,” Greenpeace says, over whether or not to reduce Europe’s fossil fuel dependence and emissions by helping people switch from cars to public transport, while also improving “the quality of our environment and help people cope with rising costs.”
