Transport: Germany is betting on a monthly ticket at 49 euros, valid on all local public transport


From 2023 to 2025, the Federal State and the Landers will each contribute to the measure up to 1.5 billion euros per year. aapsky/stock.adobe.com

Called “Deutschlandticket”, the offer aims to perpetuate the 9-euro ticket successfully tested this summer.

This should delight lovers of repeated getaways. Germany is preparing to launch a monthly pass that will allow free travel on the entire local public transport network (regional trains, metro, trams, buses, etc.) in the country, for only 49 euros. Only express and long-distance trains are excluded from this attractive offer. The kick-off of this operation, dubbed “Deutschlandticketwill be given on 1er may.

The Germans know what to expect: this summer, they had already had the opportunity to benefit from a similar offer, for 9 euros per month. The measure, valid from June to September, was to encourage the use of transport and accompany the rise in energy prices. On arrival, the results of the operation proved to be more than conclusive, with nearly 52 million tickets sold. “Unlike the 9 euro note, the Deutschlandticket is intended to be a permanent ticket, cancellable monthly“Explains Deutsch Bahn, the public German rail transport company, responsible for marketing the season ticket.

Challenge for Deutsch Bahn

Galvanized by this summer success, the government aimed to transform the trial as quickly as possible, from the start of 2023.Deutschlandticketwill finally take a few more months to arrive at the dock, the parliamentary debates surrounding its adoption having proved to be more laborious than expected. Rates, applicable transport, support… the elected representatives of the Bundestag have scrutinized the terms of the future subscription. On Thursday, the chamber finally adopted the bill establishing the ticket at 49 euros. “The biggest transport reform in German history is on track“hastened to twitter the Minister of Transport and craftsman of the”Deutschlandticket», Volker Wissing.

As for the main point of tension – the financing of the operation – the Parliamentarians decided to cut the pear in two: from 2023 to 2025, the federal government and the Landers will each contribute up to 1.5 billion euros per year, in order to compensate for the loss of earnings of the transport companies. For the rest, the scenario is not yet written. “In order to sustainably secure the financing of the 49 euro banknote beyond 2025, a new legislative procedure must be initiated in 2025 on the basis of an assessment of the traffic and financial effects.“says the official website of the Bundestag.

First transport company of the country, the Deutsch Bahn should be the main beneficiary of the contributions of the State and the Landers. But will the Germanic equivalent of our national SNCF have the backs strong enough to support a tariff operation of this magnitude? The latest report from the Federal Court of Auditors, devoted to Deutsch Bahn and submitted to the Bundestag on Wednesday, raises doubts. The institution points to a “chronic crisis of the Deutsch Bahn», «endangering the entire railway system“. She is especially alarmed by the deficit accumulated by the company, approaching 30 billion euros. This is also enough to feed the concerns of parliamentarians, who are already speculating on an eventual increase in the “Deutschlandticket“, the price of 49 euros being only”an introductory price“.

Double rail traffic

Seemingly remote from these financial considerations, the Germans nevertheless paid the price in their daily rail journeys. In an article published this summer, the correspondent of the Figaro in Berlin evoked the “dilapidated German railway“, highlighted by the exceptional influx of travelers linked to the ticket at 9 euros. After years of under-investment, Deutsche Bahn embarked last year on titanic work aimed at upgrading its tracks. What contributes, for the moment, to degrade a little more the punctuality observed on the network.

Caught up by the energy crisis, the coalition in power across the Rhine wishes, like the French government, to boost the development of rail transport. The key argument of this policy, the “Deutschlandticketshould make it possible to reconcile the Germans with the train. The German Ministry of Transport aims to double passenger traffic on the rails by 2030. But the measure could also appeal to European travelers, who are, like German citizens, fully eligible for the system. On good terms.



Source link -93