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A215 words5 phrases

Buses and trains

Public transport in Spain is cheap and good, but the ticket vocabulary is specific, and knowing it stops you overpaying at the machine.

Quick answer

¿Qué autobús va al centro?

Which bus goes to the centre? Note that ir a plus a place is the normal way to ask about a route.

The words

SpanishEnglish
el autobústhe bus
el metrothe underground
el billetethe ticket
el bonothe travel pass
la paradathe stop
la estaciónthe station
el andénthe platform
el trenthe train
el horariothe timetable
el retrasothe delay
el conductorthe driver
la taquillathe ticket office
el transbordothe transfer
la tarjeta de transportethe travel card
el asientothe seat

The phrases you will actually say

¿Qué autobús va al centro?Which bus goes to the centre?
¿Dónde puedo comprar un billete?Where can I buy a ticket?
El tren lleva veinte minutos de retraso.The train is twenty minutes late.
¿Tengo que hacer transbordo?Do I have to change?
Perdone, ¿esta parada es la del museo?Excuse me, is this the stop for the museum?

Worth knowing

On a Spanish city bus you board at the front door, next to the driver, and you leave through the middle or rear door. Pushing on at the back is one of the quickest ways to be told off by a stranger. You can usually pay the driver in cash for a billete sencillo, but a rechargeable bono or tarjeta de transporte costs roughly half as much per trip and is worth buying on day one at a tobacconist, an estanco. Long-distance trains work differently again: on AVE services your bag goes through a scanner before boarding, your seat and carriage are printed on the ticket and are not optional, and boarding closes a couple of minutes before departure.

Practice

Practise your buses and trains words

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Check yourself

On a Spanish city bus, where do you normally get on?

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