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Regional train in Berlin: Who is responsible for what part of the loss of income?
Photo:
Jörg Carstensen/ DPA
In Bremen, the transport ministers of the federal states and the federal government are negotiating - probably above all about the planned nine-euro monthly ticket and its financing.
The states want more money from the federal government.
The federal government has so far promised to make 2.5 billion euros available to the federal states due to the loss of income from the ticket, plus 1.2 billion euros for corona-related losses.
However, the federal states want the federal government to significantly increase regionalization funds - this is money that the federal government makes available to the federal states every year to finance local rail passenger transport.
The background: The nine-euro monthly ticket planned for the beginning of June until the end of August means there is a risk of major losses.
For only nine euros per month, citizens should be able to travel nationwide in local and regional transport.
There are also concerns among Deutsche Bahn employee representatives, holiday regions fear a rush that they cannot cope with.
The Federal Association of Consumers (vzbv), in turn, would like the ticket to be different during the holiday season.
"It would be fatal" if these measures expired in October and the start of the embargo drove up prices at the same time, said mobility expert Marion Jungbluth from the organization on Wednesday, with a view to the EU's planned oil boycott of Russia.
Should prices rise as a result, the federal government must be able to take effective countermeasures.
The aim of the federal government's discount campaign is to lure people into buses and trains at low cost - and thus to compensate for the sharp rise in consumer prices.
Petrol and diesel in particular have become enormously expensive in recent months.
A tank discount is therefore also planned - according to vzbv, this should also be postponed in view of the boycott plans at the end of the year.
At the same time, the federal government must critically monitor price developments at the pumps and intervene if mineral oil companies and refineries want to enrich themselves in the crisis.
The transport ministers of the federal and state governments, including Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) and Bremen Transport Senator Maike Schaefer (Greens), as chair of the Transport Ministers' Conference, want to report on the results of their deliberations at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Apr/dpa/AFP