You live in the suburbs of Košice, take a regional eurobus, change to a tram at the city border — and pay twice, with two different fares, in two different systems. This very ambiguity in Eastern Slovakia is about to be removed: the city of Košice will join the integrated transport system IDS Východ, and from the summer of 2027, you will be able to travel around the city and the region with one ticket.
What has been agreed and when it will start
The Košice self-governing region has confirmed to the SITA agency that the integration of Dopravný podnik mesta Košice (DPMK — the city transport company for trams, trolleybuses, and buses) into IDS Východ is planned for around July 1, 2027. From this date, a single common fare for all participants in the system should come into effect.
Two other processes are happening in parallel:
- The public transport of Prešov (Dopravný podnik mesta Prešov) will be integrated at the end of 2026 — the city insists on joining under the same conditions as Košice.
- The railway carrier ZSSK is to join the common fare during 2026.
Regional bus carriers of the Košice and Prešov regions are already part of IDS Východ today: ARRIVA Michalovce, BUS Karpaty, eurobus, SAD Humenné, SAD Poprad, and SAD Prešov. And from August 1, 2024, a new zone-based fare system has been in effect on regional buses in both regions — the ticket price depends not on kilometers, but on the number of tariff zones crossed.
Dispute over free travel
The main stumbling block is concessions. In Košice's public transport, children under 6 and seniors over 70 travel for free, and the city does not want to lose this benefit after switching to a single fare. The region, in turn, stated: residents will not pay more than they do now, but the rules must be the same for everyone — if people travel with one ticket in the city and the region, the discount system must also be common.
By the way, partial progress has already been made in this direction. Since the beginning of July this year, children under six travel for zero euros in IDS Východ (they previously paid half price), but the 50% discount for a companion of a child under six has been canceled. According to IDS Východ, this was done to eliminate differences between bus, railway, and city fares before the major integration.
The region assures that discounts as such will not disappear — preferential fares for children, students, seniors, and people with disabilities already exist in the system. It is about agreeing on unified rules, not about canceling them. Prešov supported Košice in the dispute over concessions — when agreeing on its own fare system, the city faced the same problem.
Why is this needed — and who pays for it
Integration is not just about passenger convenience. The head of the Košice region, Rastislav Trnka, emphasizes: in many routes in the Košice agglomeration, both city and regional transport currently run in parallel, effectively duplicating each other at public expense. According to him, eliminating these duplications within the framework of the transport service plan for the agglomeration for 2026–2036 could save the city millions of euros annually. The savings, as planned, will be reinvested in transport — newer services, more modern vehicles.
The financial context is not cheerful. In 2024, DPMK recorded a loss of almost €830,000, despite carrying 75.7 million passengers — 750,000 more than the previous year (the company still finished 2023 with a profit of €84,700). The city of Košice has allocated €34.4 million to DPMK for operational costs in 2025, and with additional funds from the city budget surplus, support could reach a record €37.3 million. Against this background, the logic of "one system — less duplication — lower costs" seems quite pragmatic, writes Aktuality.sk.
What this means for you
If you travel in Košice or the surrounding villages — you don't need to change anything until July 2027, all current tickets and passes work as before. But in about a year and a half, you can expect:
- a single ticket for city and regional transport with easier transfers;
- a review of fares — the city promises it won't be more expensive, but the price structure will become zone-based, as it already is for regional buses;
- possible changes in concessions for children under 6 and seniors over 70 — negotiations are still ongoing regarding these, and the final terms will be announced after the entire agreement is signed.
We will follow the negotiations and inform you as soon as the final fare is available — it will determine how much you will pay for your commute to work or to the doctor.
