The nine-euro ticket for local public transport is to come in June. Which regions does it apply to? Who benefits? Does it even make sense? The most important questions and answers.
From June it could get crowded in local public transport: Berlin U-Bahn at Alexanderplatz.
From June 1st, the nine-euro ticket will be valid for all local and regional public transport in Germany. The offer is limited to three months. It is part of the federal government’s relief package, which is intended to create a social balance for rising energy prices. The law is to be passed in the Bundestag on Thursday; However, it still requires the approval of the Federal Council on Friday. Several federal states have already threatened to veto it. They are demanding more money from the federal government to compensate for the additional expenditure.
The nine-euro ticket is valid for one month in June, July and August. With the ticket you can use local public transport throughout Germany. The ticket is also valid in second class on regional trains. The only exceptions are long-distance buses and trains.
Anyone can take advantage of the offer. It applies to everyone regardless of income. Children under the age of six travel free of charge, those older need their own ticket. Anyone who has a subscription for monthly or annual tickets for local public transport does not have to do anything to benefit from the offer. The transport companies either deduct a lower amount or reimburse the excess of the contributions for the period of validity of the nine-euro ticket. If the subscription includes the option of taking passengers with you, this rule also applies to the nine-euro ticket.
The difference to the regular fare is considerable. In Berlin, Munich or Cologne, annual subscriptions cost between sixty and ninety euros per month, in Hamburg a simple day pass usually costs almost as much as a nine-euro ticket.
With the nine-euro ticket, the federal government wants to relieve the burden on citizens who are facing significantly higher costs due to rising energy prices. It is part of the relief package, which also includes a petrol discount limited to three months and a flat-rate energy price.
To this end, the federal government wants to increase the regionalization funds again. These are federal funds from the climate package, which the federal states can use to strengthen local rail passenger transport. They should increase climate-friendly mobility. The regionalization funds have already been increased in the past two years. This happened against the background of the pandemic, which resulted in a significant drop in passenger revenue. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the consequential effects on the energy market are now further exacerbating the situation.
This year, according to the draft law by the SPD, Greens and FDP parliamentary groups, the regionalization funds are to be increased by 3.7 billion. 1.2 billion euros are estimated to compensate for the disadvantages caused by the pandemic, 2.5 billion to finance the nine-euro ticket. The implementation of the measure is carried out by the federal states. The federal government wants to contribute half to the financing of “the expected financial disadvantages in public transport”, as stated in the draft law.
Some federal states such as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have threatened to reject the law in the Bundesrat, which will vote on it on Friday. The estimated regionalization funds are not sufficient and must be increased significantly, the states are demanding. Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter criticizes that this temporary offer still does not provide a permanent boost to local public transport through more federal funds. Meanwhile, the Pro Bahn passenger association warns of overcrowded trains. After the strain of the pandemic, private long-distance bus companies are now expecting additional losses in their income.
A return to the regular public transport tariff is currently planned as soon as the nine-euro ticket expires on August 31. The Left Party does not go far enough. In an application to the federal government, the left are calling for the nine-euro ticket to be extended to one year.
The limited duration of the ticket is also met with criticism in the public debate. It is questionable whether the measure will actually provide “an incentive to switch to local public transport” beyond the three months, as the draft law of the traffic light groups explains. Another problem with the project is that the cost reduction is independent of income. This also benefits high-income households who could afford tickets at the regular price.