Creditrans was a

travel card A transit pass (North American English) or travel card (British English), often referred to as a bus pass or train pass etc. (in all English dialects), is a ticket that allows a passenger of the service to take either a certain number of pre-purch ...

used to travel around

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

, in the Basque Country (

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

). The card was the most popular ticket in the area, used by over 100 million passengers in 2007.

History

When the

Metro Bilbao The Bilbao metro ( es, Metro de Bilbao, eu, Bilboko metroa) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Bilbao and the region of Greater Bilbao. Lines 1 and 2 have a "Y" shape, as they transit both banks of the river Ibaizabal and then com ...

system was created in 1995 the local authorities realized that the transport system integration around Bilbao was very deficient. There were four rail companies (five after the opening of the tramway) and two bus companies, each one with different zones and fare systems, plus different ticket machines and even ticket sizes. The ''

Transport Consortium'' (''CTB''), created in 1975 to build the underground, was the public company that would lead the efforts to overcome the situation. After some efforts to adapt the machines and information systems, the bus and underground were integrated, the basque railways soon followed and finally

FEVE Renfe Feve is a division of state-owned Spanish railway company Renfe Operadora. It operates most of Spain's of railway. This division of Renfe was previously a stand-alone company named FEVE (Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha,Law 11/1965 of ...

entered the system in 2006. The last remaining company to join the system was RENFE, which operates three rail lines in the area, the company was incorporated to the Creditrans system during 2009. In 2012 the Creditrans tickets were replaced by plastic Barik card which work on the same principle except you can add credit to them through the regular ticket machines instead of buying a new card each time.

Operation

The card worked as a cash card of 5, 10 and 15

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

value. It could be acquired at the underground vending machines, tramway vending machines, tobacconists and ATMs. When a Creditrans is validated, the amount subtracted from its denomination is variable depending on the transport used. Also, when using two transports in a row (for instance Underground and bus) a 20% discount is applied on the second trip.

Companies

Bilbobus Bilbobus is the name for metropolitan bus services in Bilbao. The service is owned by the city council of Bilbao. Operations will be transferred to Veolia Transport, the company that won the contract in May 2008. The buses can be distinguished by ...

* BizkaiBus *

EuskoTren Euskotren, formally known as Basque Railways ( eu, Eusko Trenbideak, es, Ferrocarriles Vascos), is a public railway company controlled by the Basque Government and officially established in 1982 to operate several narrow gauge railways inside ...

* EuskoTran *

Vizcaya Bridge The Vizcaya Bridge (''Bizkaiko Zubia'' in Basque, ''Puente de Vizcaya'' in Spanish) is a transporter bridge that links the towns of Portugalete and Las Arenas (part of Getxo) in the Biscay province of Spain, crossing the mouth of the Nervion R ...

Artxanda Funicular The Artxanda Funicular ( eu, Artxandako funikularra; es, Funicular de Artxanda) is a funicular railway in the city of Bilbao in Spain's Basque Country. It links downtown Bilbao with the recreational area at the summit of the nearby Artxanda Mo ...

References

External links

Biscay Transport Consortium official site
{{Bilbao Transport Transport in Bilbao Biscay