9-euro ticket: Minister of Transport Wissing rules out extension – “permanently not possible”
Created: 06/23/2022Updated: 06/23/2022 15:14
By: Jens Kiffmeier
Rejects an extension of the 9-euro ticket in the 20022 relief package: Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP).
© Fabian Sommer/Michael Kappeler/dpa
Boom on the train: The 9-euro ticket from the 2022 relief package ensures that buses and trains are full.
But Minister Wissing rejects an extension.
Berlin – It's over after the summer: the 9-euro ticket from the 2022 relief package should not be continued after three months.
Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) has spoken a word of power and ruled out the often requested extension.
"It's not possible in the long term," the liberal made clear in an interview with
RTL
, justifying the cancellation with the high costs of over one billion euros per month.
But will he get away with this position?
In the federal and state governments, the call for an extension of the discount campaign to a 365-euro ticket is getting louder.
Relief package 2022: buy a 9-euro ticket longer?
Transport Minister Volker Wissing rejects the idea
Since June 1, Germans have been able to buy the 9-euro ticket at all Deutsche Bahn counters and machines.
It is a central component of the 2022 relief package, with which the traffic light coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to free Germans from the high energy prices for petrol, diesel, oil and gas.
The 9-euro ticket entitles you to travel on all buses and trains of local public transport (ÖPNV) nationwide and can be purchased for the months of June, July and August.
But then it should be over, as reported by kreiszeitung.de.
Since its introduction, the transport companies have experienced a small boom.
The trains are full, especially on weekends and public holidays, which sometimes causes annoyed train staff.
However, Wissing drew a positive interim balance: "I am pleased that the measure is so well received and so well received," said the minister.
The 9-euro ticket would certainly have exceeded the expectations of many in the federal and state governments.
9-euro ticket: there is a loud call for the measure in the 2022 relief package to be extended – a 365-day ticket is proposed as an alternative
Due to the high demand, more and more demands are being made that the 9-euro ticket should be extended until the end of the year, despite the high costs.
The left-wing faction in the Bundestag has already submitted its own motion to make rail travel cheap all year round by expanding the campaign to include a 365-euro ticket.
As a result, Germans could use buses and trains for one euro every day.
In Munich, this ticket is already available for students and trainees.
In Bremen, the SPD is also demanding a 365-euro ticket.
As a compromise, the consumer advice centers suggested a 29-euro ticket.
For the proponents of these ideas, there is no way around an extension or expansion of the 9-euro ticket.
The reasoning is that you can't lure the Germans with the cheap campaign and then let them get back into their cars three months later.
In view of permanently high energy prices, one can only speak of a real turnaround in transport if one also keeps local public transport attractive and inexpensive in the long term, they say.
Relief package: 9-euro ticket is being evaluated - more money for bus and train in local transport (public transport) planned
But the Ministry of Transport is still skeptical.
Wissing shies away from concrete commitments.
The minister made it clear that the campaign had to be evaluated before the 9-euro ticket was extended until December.
However, he admitted that local public transport in Germany had to be strengthened.
However, he does not want to regulate this via ticket prices.
According to the Liberal's plan, additional money should first of all flow into the infrastructure.
The aim must be to expand the rail network and provide enough trains and buses to offer an attractive alternative to the car in the long term, said Wissing.
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Buy a 9-euro ticket - that's how it's possible
Germans have been able to buy the 9-euro ticket since June 1st.
It is available online, in the apps, from the machines or at the counters of all transport companies.
The ticket entitles you to travel on all buses and trains of local public transport (ÖPNV) nationwide for one month, only long-distance transport is excluded.
The campaign lasts from the beginning of June to the end of August.
Whether Wissing can implement this plan remains to be seen.
Irrespective of the many wishes of the opposition, the transport minister also has to face a tough distribution battle within the government.
Experts are now not assuming that energy prices will fall again so quickly.
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) swore the Germans to expect an economic crisis of three to five years.
Although Germans are already noticing the cost pressure at gas stations and in supermarkets, he warned that inflation will increase prices even further.
New relief package: Traffic light coalition is struggling to further compensate for high energy prices
Politicians have already taken countermeasures with two relief packages.
In addition to the 9-euro ticket, a fuel discount, an energy cost flat rate of 300 euros, a child bonus and a Hartz IV subsidy were also introduced.
But that's not enough - this realization is trickling through more and more.
That's why SPD faction leader Rolf Mützenich was the first to bring a new relief package into play.
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The FDP and the Greens share the assessment that further financial aid will be necessary.
But the financial leeway has been exhausted, Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) has already warned.
You can no longer give all Germans relief from energy and food costs with a watering can.
A new relief package must contain measures that are socially graded.
In other words, poorer pensioners or Hartz IV recipients get help, while high-income households get nothing.
Against this background, it is hard to imagine that the federal government would give all Germans an extended 9-euro ticket or a 365-euro ticket.
