So it’s possible! Berlin did it and launched a successor to the popular 9-euro ticket. However, not Berlin in its capacity as the capital and seat of government. In Berlin – and only there – from October all public transport can be used with a ticket for 29 euros. That sends a completely wrong signal.
A comment by Felix Gräber.
Berlin will start a universal ticket for local public transport from October. All buses and trains in the capital should therefore be available at the same price can be used. The ticket is the successor to the nationwide 9-euro ticket, which was canceled in September after three months as planned. The Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB) decided on this in an emergency meeting.
Berlin celebrates 29-euro ticket: This is the wrong way
Price point for the ticket: 29 euros. Unlike the nationwide 9-euro ticket, customers should only be able to buy the ticket as a subscription, but not for individual months. It will apply to tariff zone AB and thus to the city of Berlin. The partner in the transport association, i.e. the state of Brandenburg, is not covered. Journeys, for example, to and from Berlin Airport BER are also too far (source: ZDF).
In the capital, people are obviously satisfied with the success: “Berlin delivers,” said Mayor Franziska Giffey via Twitter:
Berlin, too, “is the first federal state to lead the way,” it says. But therein lies the problem. With the 29-euro ticket in Berlin, the all-too-well-known solo effort by the federal states returnswhen it comes to mobility offers such as local public transport. The general nationwide validity was one of the great advantages of the 9-euro ticket. In addition to the low price, mind you, but we can forget about that with the successor anyway.
With the advance, Berlin is showing that after three months of the 9-euro ticket, politicians have apparently only learned something new to a limited extent. The argument that this will relieve the burden on hundreds of thousands of Berliners has something to be said for it – especially during what is probably the most expensive winter Germany has ever experienced. But that’s on the other side Signal that everyone takes care of themselves.
Unfortunately, the capital is not alone in this. Lower Saxony’s Ministry of Transport had flirted with a “North German model”, while in September and October NRW made free journeys possible for subscription customers on certain days. At best, all of this is reminiscent of the state tickets that have been around for years, sometimes as a day ticket, sometimes valid over the weekend. Of the Small-minded federalism in the transport system is obviously not eliminated with a 9-euro ticket for only three months – although for a brief moment it was also possible without it.
It was nice, the 9-euro ticket:
Nail in the coffin for the 9-euro ticket successor? Berlin has turned the corner
Is Berlin burying the chance of a 9-euro ticket successor for everyone? Luckily it’s not that bad. The Berlin 29-euro ticket is limited until the end of the year. After a long struggle for a possible successor, the federal government has at least promised funds that no longer completely rule out a successor from 2023. But it will be significantly more expensive, 49 to 69 euros are targeted.
So there is a chance that small-scale, half-baked solutions that cause a lot of annoyance on longer trips will not settle again. The success of a possible successor stands and falls not least with the price, but also with the simple attractiveness that the 9-euro ticket really made consumers aware of for the first time.