State ministers see the federal government as responsible for further financing the 49-euro ticket. “The federal government and above all Federal Minister of Transport Wissing must now finally commit to the project he initiated himself and also bear half of the costs of the Germany ticket in the coming years,” said Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Transport Winfried Hermann (Greens) of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. .
After months of dispute, the federal and state governments agreed on the financing for this year at the end of March. How the financing will continue in the long term has yet to be clarified.
The Germany ticket for 49 euros a month has been available since May 1 – as a digitally bookable, monthly terminable subscription that is valid for local transport throughout Germany. The federal and state governments each want to bear half of the costs. From 2023 to 2025, 1.5 billion euros will come from the federal government. The countries want to raise just as much. Possible additional costs should also be shared equally in the first year. The struggle is now over distribution of the additional costs in the following years.
Without an agreement on open financial issues for the period after 2023, “the federal states see the continuation of the Deutschlandticket or at least its nationwide application as seriously endangered,” the SZ quotes the Transport Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Oliver Krischer (Greens), from a letter to Wissing from Ende July.
“The future of the Deutschlandticket is uncertain because the transport companies and associations do not know whether its financing will continue next year,” said the Vice President of the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), Werner Overkamp, the newspaper.
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Transport told the newspaper that the discussion was “complicated by the tight budgetary situation” and the “necessary prioritization of the use of funds”. However, the ministry is in close contact with the countries and the industry to clarify further details.
