From the point of view of the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), it will still be some time before the planned 49-euro ticket can only be offered digitally – a paper ticket solution is therefore needed for the start. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to sell everyone who wants a ticket at the beginning,” said VDV President Ingo Wortmann in Berlin. “We need a transition phase by the end of the year with paper solutions.”
This could also mean that the customer data is stored digitally with the associations and that the subscribers are temporarily issued a paper ticket. A nationwide uniform solution with chip cards or mobile phone tickets is then needed. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) only wants a digital offer.
The 49-euro subscription is to be introduced this year as a permanent, nationwide follow-up offer for the 9-euro ticket in local public transport. The exact start is still open. The VDV sees May 1st as realistic. The countries are aiming for an introduction by April 1st, but recently skeptical tones have been heard again and again. Wissing had said that the ticket should be valid from the beginning of May at the latest. Among other things, the EU Commission still has to agree, because the ticket affects state aid regulations.
