Stib tests contactless card payments as alternative to Mobib

Public transport users in Brussels will be able to use their bank card instead of a Mobib ticket from next year, as the Stib begins a trial into contactless payments.

Metro ticket gates, buses and trams will be equipped with contactless bank card readers similar to the existing Mobib machines. The first tests, until the end of December, will be carried out at Parc metro station and on a handful of buses and trams - where the readers have been installed but have not yet been switched on.

If the tests over the coming weeks go to plan, 6,200 contactless card readers will be installed throughout the Stib network from January, with a view to launching the new payment method from the summer.

The exact fare for paying with a contactless card has yet to be decided - but is likely to be in the region of €2.10 to €2.50 per journey, the same as buying a regular ticket at a machine or on-board.

The contactless devices are separate from the existing red Mobib card readers, which will continue to operate as usual. It will still be cheaper to buy 10 journeys in bulk on a Mobib card - which costs €1.40 per trip.

A Stib spokeswoman said the new system was targeted mainly at tourists and residents in Brussels who are not used to taking public transport "and are a bit lost when they have to do so".

She added: "This new technology will allow people to take public transport on the spur of the moment - and that will increase the number of travellers."