With the future 49-euro ticket for nationwide local transport, the federal states are calling for a fixed regular review to determine whether the price needs to be increased.
The Federal Council decided on a statement on the draft law for the planned financing, which proposes: “The price will be fixed annually in coordination with the federal and state governments.” The Germany ticket should start for 49 euros per month, which is expressly an “introductory price”. Later increases are therefore not excluded. The state chamber also warned the federal government to provide longer financial security. Four weeks before the targeted start of sales, practical questions are still open.
“Regulate liability even after the time of introduction”
Hesse’s Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens) said in the Bundesrat that it was not yet known exactly how high the costs would be. For customers with existing subscriptions, the Deutschlandticket is “a significant price reduction”, which ultimately leads to less money in the coffers of the transport company. Half of that has to be compensated for, and the federal government is not allowed to lose its responsibility. The Saxon Minister Martin Dulig (SPD) said that it was in everyone’s interest to now regulate a liability even after the introduction.
Possible ticket price increases are already being discussed. The consumer advice centers are demanding a price guarantee until the end of 2025, because customers must be able to rely on the fact that 49 euros a month is “not a bait offer”. The industry, on the other hand, supported a mechanism that the Federal Council is now calling for. Under no circumstances should the price be permanently frozen in view of the further increase in personnel and energy costs, or “even reduced due to short-term political opportunities,” explained the Association of German Transport Companies recently for a hearing.
49-euro ticket starts on May 1st
The draft law introduced by Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) provides that the federal government will initially provide 1.5 billion euros from 2023 to 2025 in order to compensate for half of the loss of income from transport providers. The other half should take over the countries. The draft is now coming to the Bundestag for further deliberations. After the decision in Parliament, the Bundesrat must also agree. The chairman of the state ministers, Oliver Krischer (Greens) from North Rhine-Westphalia, said that a cheap ticket would only serve its purpose if the transport offer also met increasing demand in terms of capacity and reliability.
The nationwide public transport ticket for buses and trains is scheduled to start on May 1st. A digitally bookable, monthly terminable subscription is planned. The offer should build on the popular 9-euro ticket from last summer. The start of sales is planned for April 3rd. However, a number of practical implementation issues still need to be clarified, as was made clear in the Bundesrat. The Baden-Württemberg Minister Winfried Hermann (Greens) mentioned possible regulations for social and semester tickets as well as for first class as open points.
