What is the cheapest metro system in the world?

Question

When traveling I am trying to avoid using the underground/metro/subway because I want to see the city I am visiting, but sometimes for long distances it is much quicker than any other form of transport.

So which city has the cheapest underground system? I'm looking for the cheapest available single fare price. It is okay if I have to use a pre-paid card as long as I can buy it right in the station.

On contender is Mexico City: Metro Prices in Mexico City in 2008

Photo credit: Peter Hahndorf

In 2008 the price for a single ride was 2 pesos or € 0.10 (US$ 0.15), it is now up to 3 pesos, but that is still very cheap.

Public transport in Tallinn is free to the passengers (but there is no metro, only bus, trams and trolleybus). Free public transport is a thing now, but mostly in small to medium-sized cities with bus networks but no metro. — Relaxed, Oct 04 '14 at 06:56
@Relaxed though you have to be registered as a resident of Tallinn (essentially live there) to take advantage of it. — kiradotee, Sep 11 '19 at 22:57

score 22 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 25 '12 at 21:26

According to PriceOfTravel.com:

*all prices converted into US dollars in mid-November, 2010

Price ranges reflect shortest to longest rides in most cities. Tourists are most likely to pay the lowest price.

Caracas, Venezuela (metro, bus) $0.12 – $0.28
Cairo, Egypt (metro) $0.17
Delhi, India (metro) $0.18 – $0.66
La Paz, Bolivia (bus) $0.19 – $0.50
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (light rail, bus) $0.22 – $0.76
Marrakech, Morocco (bus) $0.24 – $0.61
Mexico City, Mexico (metro) $0.24
Panama City, Panama (bus) $0.25
Quito, Ecuador (bus) $0.25 – $0.35
Hong Kong, China (tram, ferry) $0.26 – $0.39
Buenos Aires, Argentina (bus, subway) $0.28 – $0.32
Beijing, China (subway) $0.30
Dakar, Senegal (bus) $0.31
Lima, Peru (bus) $0.36 – $0.64
Auckland, New Zealand (bus, train) $0.38 – $1.38
Macau, China (bus) $0.41 – $0.83
Shanghai, China (metro) $0.45 – $1.35
Cancun, Mexico (bus) $0.49
Taipei, Taiwan (metro, bus) $0.49 – $2.14
Bangkok, Thailand (skytrain, subway) $0.50 – $1.34
Singapore, Singapore (subway, light rail) $0.61 – $1.53
St. Petersburg, Russia (tram, bus, metro) $0.61 – $0.71
Cartagena, Colombia (bus) $0.64 – $0.80
Dubai, UAE (metro) $0.68 – $2.18
Montevideo, Uruguay (bus) $0.76
Sofia, Bulgaria (tram, bus, metro) $0.80
Phuket, Thailand (bus) $0.83, $1.17
Moscow, Russia (metro) $0.84
Krakow, Poland (bus, tram) $0.86
Seoul, South Korea (subway, bus) $0.89 – $1.77
Prague, Czech Republic (tram, bus, metro) $1.00 – $1.44
Santiago, Chile (metro, bus) $1.00 – $1.20
Istanbul, Turkey (tram, bus, metro, ferry) $1.03
Cape Town, South Africa (bus) $1.14
Lisbon, Portugal (tram, bus, metro) $1.16 – $3.97
New Orleans, USA (tram, bus) $1.25 – $1.50
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (metro, bus) $1.28 – $1.74
Budapest, Hungary (tram, bus, metro) $1.28 – $2.32
Athens, Greece (tram, bus, metro) $1.37
Madrid, Spain (metro, bus) $1.37
Monaco, Monaco (bus) $1.37
Rome, Italy (tram, bus, metro) $1.37
Tallinn, Estonia (bus, tram, trolley) $1.39 – $1.74
Dubrovnik, Croatia (bus) $1.48 – $1.85
Los Angeles, USA (bus, metro) $1.50
Chicago, USA (metro, bus) $1.54 - $1.73
Dublin, Ireland (tram, bus) $1.58 – $2.47
Nice, France (bus) $1.58
Tel Aviv, Israel (bus) $1.58
Washington DC, USA (metro) $1.60 – $5.00
Bruges, Belgium (bus) $1.64 - $2.74

I'll stop there, as they just get more expensive after that.

So according to this, Mexico City prices have gone up to US$0.24 now, so your best has now lost out to a few other cities, and now Caracas would probably take the prize.

Boy do those prices make me proud of Sydney sitting on $2.10-$8.20. OTOH you can travel up to 522.32km one way on that $8.20 fare, so there is that. — dlanod, Jul 09 '12 at 23:30
That price for Shanghai is for the subway--3 Yuan for the shorter runs. Most bus fares are 2 Yuan. — Loren Pechtel, Jul 20 '12 at 20:41
If we include busses, there are more than 30 city-wide networks which are entirely free. I think you could remove cities without a metro from the list. — Relaxed, Nov 13 '14 at 18:29
@dlanod As long as you don't count the "Airport Access Fee" when going to the airport. — The Wandering Coder, Sep 08 '16 at 02:08
@RoflcoptrException the difference, iirc, is that foreigners aren't allowed to simply ride wherever they want to on the Pyongyang Metro - you have to have a tour minder and they will tell you where you can go. For most other systems, as long as you are legally in the city you can ride trains and buses wherever you want. — Robert Columbia, Jan 20 '19 at 12:28
Doesn't seem complete: Shenzhen is 2 RMB (US $0.28) per ride — Hilmar, Sep 11 '19 at 21:30

score 22 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 09 '12 at 16:53

I'd like to add a second answer, because it's one that is cheaper but not generally accessible to do individually as a traveller.

"The Pyongyang Metro, in North Korea was designed to operate every few minutes. During the rush hours, the trains can operate at a minimum interval of 2 minutes.

It is also one of the cheapest in the world to ride, at only 5 KP₩ (about $0.03 USD) per ticket."

Carl · Answer 3 · 2019-09-11T20:58:37.487

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Some Metros aren't on PriceOfTravel.com list. Others are out of date. The list has been updated since Mark Mayo's answer but still outdated again quickly:

$0.00 Caracas (officially it's $0.10 but they stopped charging because they don't have material for tickets)
$0.001 Pyongyang (given current exchange rate assuming the fare is still 5 KPW)
$0.16 Dnipropetrovsk (4 UAH)
$0.20 Kharkov (5 UAH)
$0.24 Yerevan
$0.29 Tbilisi
$0.32 Kyiv (8 UAH)
$0.35 Minsk
$0.35 Buenos Aires (the Premetro is only $0.03)

edited Sep 11 '19 at 20:58

answered Oct 03 '14 at 23:48

Carl

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The Kiev is also 3 UAH on current website, although my (probably wrong) recollection is Summer 2014 the fare was only 2 on metro, 1.50 on bus. – Andrew Lazarus Sep 07 '16 at 19:19

score 8 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 06 '15 at 10:47

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Also you can enjoy cheap transportation in Iran, Like:

$0.14 Tehran, Iran (Capital City)
$0.17 Shiraz, Iran
$0.08 Mashhad, Iran

Prices in March 2015.

answered Mar 06 '15 at 10:47

Ali

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score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 11 '19 at 11:18

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Using metro in Caracas (Venezuela) is for free now.

With sky-rocketing inflation, printing the tickets costed more than the ride so they made it free.

answered Sep 11 '19 at 11:18

Rafał Sroka

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A link to the site of the metro company in Caracas to back that up? – Joren Vandamme Sep 11 '19 at 11:27

score 6 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 07 '16 at 19:13

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You can take the London Underground for free between terminal 5 and terminals 2/3 at Heathrow. You will need an oyster card or contactless payment card though.

answered Sep 07 '16 at 19:13

Berwyn

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score 3 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 06 '18 at 17:05

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As of Jan 2018 exchange rate of USD-INR, Delhi Metro has lowest fare of just 10 rupees or 16 US cents which I think is the lowest or second lowest in the world.

answered Jan 06 '18 at 17:05

Rolen Koh

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There's more than 2 examples just in the answers to this question that cost less, so it cannot be "lowest or second lowest". – Roddy of the Frozen Peas Jan 06 '18 at 18:59
@RoddyoftheFrozenPeas: All the examples above are 3 to 6 years old. A lot has changed in these 3 to 6 years. – Rolen Koh Jan 07 '18 at 06:07
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So prove it. "I think" is not a valid justification for anything. – Roddy of the Frozen Peas Jan 07 '18 at 16:51
@RoddyoftheFrozenPeas: I think is a valid justification in the case where the person has done sufficient research on the topic, is only short of having conclusive data and also has some fair idea about the topic. Besides this link should give you some idea about fares in metros around the world. Check the column "Fare": http://mic-ro.com/metro/table.html?feat=CIOPLGSTSSLILSLLSLDPTPPL&orderby=TP&sort=DESC&unit=&status= – Rolen Koh Jan 08 '18 at 18:14
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Whatever that page is, is woefully incomplete. It doesn't even list prices for a good chunk of the other suggested locations in the other answers. Regardless, since you've not indicated in your answer any of this "sufficient research", your justification remains "I think". – Roddy of the Frozen Peas Jan 08 '18 at 19:20
Also that page says, right at the top: "Ticket prices by UBS (Prices and Earnings, 2009, PDF, p. 20)." So they're even older than the other answers. – Roddy of the Frozen Peas Jan 08 '18 at 19:21
@RoddyoftheFrozenPeas: "Whatever that page is, is woefully incomplete". When rating agencies like Credit Suisse, Mercer etc. come up with various types of rankings like world's most expensive cities, world's most liveable cities etc, are their lists gleefully complete or they left behind any city? Do they take into account each and every city on the planet? And what counts as city first of all? Various countries define city differently. Your pointless argument is not helpful to anyone. You better provide an answer (which will be constructive) instead of looking for faults in my answer. – Rolen Koh Jan 09 '18 at 16:17
@RoddyoftheFrozenPeas: And yes that list is the most extensive list I found on the internet as it contains almost all the metro systems in the world. Yes prices mentioned are from 2009 but it does give you a fair idea that if the Delhi Metro had the lowest fare then, then it hasn't changed much in these 7-8 years for Delhi Metro only. Exchange rates of all the currencies of the world have changed accordingly as well may be exception of yuan which may have grown stronger against the dollar which will only make Chinese metro systems expensive. But more or less prices have increased accordingly. – Rolen Koh Jan 09 '18 at 16:25

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 07 '16 at 18:57

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A ride on the Tashkent Metro in Uzbekistan costs $0.18, so it's definitely one of the cheapest

answered Sep 07 '16 at 18:57

Crazydre

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What is the cheapest metro system in the world?

8 Answers8

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