Prominent Germans are demanding the continuation of the 9

Enlarge image

Comedian Anke Engelke: "Give yourself a push and Germany the 9-euro ticket"

Photo: Christoph Hardt / Panama Pictures / IMAGO

In the middle of the ongoing debate about a continuation of the 9-euro ticket, a large group of celebrities spoke up in an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).

In it they demand the immediate introduction of a permanently cheap local transport card.

"Seize the chance, give yourself a jerk and Germany the 9-euro ticket," write the celebrities.

It is an "important first step towards a better, fairer and climate-neutral future." The letter and a corresponding list of signatures are available to SPIEGEL.

The signatories include numerous prominent names, including comedian Anke Engelke, comedian Torsten Sträter, climate activist Luisa Neubauer, media manager Fabian Tobias ("Enemol Shine") and doctor and author Eckart von Hirschhausen.

Financing through excess profit tax

The initiator of the letter is the author and comedian Sebastian Rabsahl, who appears under the stage name "Sebastian 23" and claims to have used the ticket a lot himself.

Now it must not remain a one-off »summer fairy tale«.

"For me, the 9-euro ticket is an unprecedented opportunity to enable climate protection without deprivation, without bans," says Rabsahl.

Instead of a shower or eating ban, the population was given mobility: "The message was: You can drive!"

Enlarge image

Physician and author Eckart von Hirschhausen

Photo: Jürgen Heinrich / stock&people / IMAGO

The question of financing is also addressed in the open letter: According to this, there are "a whole range of very simple ways of financing the required around ten billion euros per year: via excess profit tax, cancellation of fossil subsidies, e.g. the company car privilege or the tax reduction for kerosene in passenger air traffic«.

Wissing promises a solution

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) has meanwhile spoken out in favor of a successor regulation for the 9-euro ticket, but without giving specific details.

He had convinced Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner (FDP) that there had to be another, more modern ticket "and that's why we will work to ensure that the old tariff structures do not fall back, as is now the case on September 1." , said the politician on Deutschlandfunk.

Wissing did not provide any information about the time of introduction or the cost structure.

There will not be free local public transport, "but of course the pricing has to be attractive in the end."

In June, July and August, the 9-euro tickets enabled travel on public transport buses and trains nationwide for one month.

According to industry information, around 52 million tickets were sold.

In addition, there are more than ten million subscribers who automatically received the discount via their monthly tickets.

The federal government had financed the campaign with 2.5 billion euros to compensate for loss of income from transport providers.