Many routes are threatened with closure
The railway works council makes the federal government responsible for Germany tickets
11/28/2022 1:26 am
Who will pay for the planned 49-euro ticket? The railway works council warns that if the federal government no longer pays, the federal states could discontinue many bus and train connections to cover the additional costs. The federal government must provide more money.
The staff representatives of Deutsche Bahn have asked the federal government to guarantee the additional costs of the 49-euro ticket. “We need financial planning,” said the chairman of the general works council of DB Regio, Ralf Damde, the editorial network Germany. The financing cap of three billion euros for the Germany ticket must be lifted at the special transport ministers’ conference on Tuesday.
So far, the federal government has only promised to assume costs of up to three billion euros. The head of the works council now warned that the federal states could discontinue certain bus and train connections if they had to bear additional costs themselves. “Without more federal subsidy, the ticket will lead to cancellations by the states,” Damde told RND. The union is already observing a decline in the lines.
People in rural areas in particular are at a disadvantage, since connections are first canceled “where the bus doesn’t go that often anyway,” he said. For comprehensive, attractive local transport offers, however, “better financing and more efficient spending in the transport associations are necessary”. The head of the works council admitted that the countries would get one billion euros more. “But we know that it should be at least 1.65 billion,” said Damde.
At the special conference on Tuesday, the federal and state transport ministers will discuss, among other things, the planned Germany ticket. At the beginning of November, the federal and state governments agreed on the financing of a follow-up regulation for the nine-euro ticket. They want to implement the Deutschlandticket at the beginning of the year. It should be valid nationwide as a monthly terminable subscription in local transport.