The Madrid Regional Transport Consortium (CRTM) announced this Thursday that it will extend the validity of expired transport cards for people over 65 years of age until March 31 and will also enable tobacconists to renew them. Specifically, these are physical transportation tickets for this group that were issued in 2014 and that now need to be changed due to a technological update.
The users affected by this renewal were already warned of this when they loaded the card for the last time in January 2024 and the expiration notice has appeared in each validation of the title, according to the CRTM, dependent on the Ministry of Housing, Transport and Infrastructure. These passes allow people over 65 years of age to travel for free throughout the entire public transport network of the Community of Madrid from 2023.
The Consortium is working to ensure that this update is carried out as soon as possible and therefore, with the aim of reducing queues and waiting time at transport offices, the CRTM has ordered operators to Affected users who present their card will be able to access public transport without problems for two and a half more months, until March 31.
However, before the Community of Madrid reported this Thursday about the extension of the title until March, chaos had already broken out in the Consortium offices. Since the beginning of the year, the lines of seniors waiting to renew their subscription on Avenida de América have gone around the street.
Several users have reported through the social network X (formerly Twitter) waiting times of more than six hours to renew cards. Users with walkers and elderly people have been forced to wait outside in the cold and even rain. “When you request a claim, the website doesn’t even work, it’s a shame,” an X user published on January 4.
According to those affected, the chaos of recent days in the transport offices has occurred due to “another terrible improvisation” by the regional government, which had not anticipated the queues that could arise. “Tremendous disaster that you have created these days with those over 65 to renew the card. Improvisation is your strategy,” commented another X user.
After what happened and to speed up card renewals, the Consortium will allow the renewal of cards in tobacco shops starting next week. It can also continue to be done in the management offices available to the CRTM located in the capital in T2 and T4 of the Airport, Avenida de América, Plaza Descubridor Diego de Ordás number 3, Méndez Álvaro, Intercambiador de Moncloa, Nuevos Ministries, Plaza Castilla, Príncipe Pío, Sol and in the offices of the Municipal Transport Company (EMT).
For those who choose to go to an office, the opening hours of those located in the two terminals of the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport are Monday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The one in Sol opens from Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The rest open from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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