From the point of view of the transport companies, more money from the state is needed for the introduction of the 49-euro ticket for buses and trains in local transport.
“We welcome the agreement between the federal and state governments on the Deutschlandticket and we will implement the offer as soon as possible,” said the President of the Association of German Transport Companies, Ingo Wortmann. However, the prerequisite is that the federal and state governments compensate for the loss of income and additional costs of the companies “completely and permanently”.
“Since this is not yet the case based on the current resolutions, there is an unforeseeable financial risk for the industry,” emphasized Wortmann. The ticket cannot be introduced without further political funding commitments.
Successor to the 9-euro ticket
The 49-euro ticket – also known as the Deutschlandticket – is to replace the 9-euro ticket for local public transport that expired in the summer as soon as possible. Last week, after months of wrangling, the federal and state governments agreed on the financing of the offer. In addition to an increase in the so-called regionalization funds, with which the federal government co-finances public transport in the federal states, the federal and state governments are each paying 1.5 billion euros for this.
From the point of view of the industry, this is not enough. The association criticizes that measures brought into play by the federal states are not included in the federal-state decision: that the ticket will become more expensive over time and that the federal and state governments undertake to provide additional funds to compensate for loss of income. The current resolution only says: “The federal and state governments will talk about the further development of the regionalization funds and the Germany ticket for the period from 2025 at the end of 2024.”
