Sofia Public Transport: Which are the New Tickets and Cards and How to Validate them?

Prices of cards and the new changes, valid from January 1st 2023, can be also be read here.

1 The new time tickets - how to use and charge them

How do I buy a ticket?

If you want to get a time ticket for the first time, you must go to the counter of the Center for Urban Mobility (CGM/ЦГМ) and buy one of the two cards available - ultralight (paper card) for 80 Cents (BGN) or plastic card for 3 Leva (BGN). On the card, the cashier loads the ticket you want to use - either the one for 1.60 Leva for a journey with a transfer within 30 minutes or the one for 2.20 Leva for a journey with a transfer within 60 minutes. You can only select one type for each individual card. If you want both, you need two cards.

If you do not pay with a bank card or through the MPASS application, you must go to the CGM ticket office (which you often cannot find at a public transport stop) and buy a time for time loaded on a card.

Ultralight card (left) costs 0.80 BGN and is a Paper Card.

Personalized card (right) costs 3 BGN and is a Plastic Card.

They look the same but are made with different materials and have different uses (see more below)

Can't I charge my tickets online instead of at the CGM ticket office?

Only the personalized plastic card (see above) can be charged online, not the paper card (Ultralight). And in order to have the personalized plastic card, you must first have gone through a CGM office, where you have to provide the necessary data and they have to register you.

Can I get my new cards from subway ticket offices instead of the CGM ticket office?

Only ultralight paper card...