Burning questions keep popping up about the newly introduced 49-euro ticket.
The most important questions about the Deutschlandticket are clarified here:
How can I buy the 49 euro ticket?
Where is it valid?
Can I take my bike or dog with me on the new €49 ticket?
These are just a few questions that public transport customers have been asking themselves since the new Deutschlandticket went on sale.
HEIDELBERG24 clarifies the most important questions at a glance:
1. What is the 49 euro ticket?
The 49-euro ticket, also known as the Deutschlandticket, is the successor to the 9-euro ticket tested in summer 2022.
After the 9-euro project was well received by the population in the summer of the previous year, it was decided to make rail travel more attractive and therefore to offer a discounted ticket for everyone.
With the new low-cost ticket, the aim is to encourage more people to switch from cars to public transport.
The interconnected networks are also to be further expanded in the future so that a relaxed train journey with public transport is possible.
The subscription to the 49-euro ticket can be canceled monthly, and apart from the 49 euros to be paid by the consumer, it is financed by the federal and state governments.
The #Germanyticket is coming!
It is digital & valid for #public transport throughout Germany.
The ticket costs €49 as a subscription, can be canceled monthly and should be introduced as soon as possible.
We are making public transport much more attractive and relieving people.
pic.twitter.com/Sx6YcNIACZ
— BMDV (@bmdv) November 2, 2022
2. Which trains can I use with the 49 euro ticket?
Of course, it would be a dream if it were possible to use the new cheap 49-euro ticket to travel both local and long-distance.
But here, too, the new subscription ticket is based on the previous 9-euro ticket.
With the Deutschlandticket it is only possible to use local trains.
This means that long-distance transport such as ICE or IC is not included in the ticket.
Therefore, caution should be exercised when planning the route.
Long-distance journeys such as ICE, IC, EC and long-distance buses are not included in the Deutschlandticket.
But there are exceptions: For example, you can travel with an ICE if the local train is at least 20 minutes late and a connecting train is missed as a result.
Here, however, the customer has to buy a separate ticket for long-distance transport, which is then submitted to the responsible transport company and reimbursed.
3. Is there a 49-euro ticket for one month or is it only available as a subscription?
Anyone who buys the 49-euro ticket automatically takes out a subscription.
According to Deutsche Bahn (DB), the Deutschlandticket is only available as an annual ticket with monthly payment as part of a subscription.
Individual purchases are not possible.
But when you buy the 49-euro ticket, you are not necessarily tied to the subscription for a whole year.
The Germany ticket can be canceled monthly, so you don't have to finance it for the whole year.
There is also no option to make a one-time payment for an annual subscription.
49 euros are deducted from the account every month.
If you want to cancel the 49-euro ticket, you are bound by a deadline.
You have to cancel it at the company where the subscription was taken out.
It can be canceled up to the 10th of a month to the end of the calendar month.
4. Where is the 49 euro ticket available?
The 49-euro ticket has been available as a monthly cancelable subscription since May 1st.
The Deutschlandticket has been available in advance from most transport companies since April 3rd.
Customers can subscribe to the Deutschlandticket via the Deutsche Bahn app and website, as well as from the respective regional transport companies.
Various companies also offer their own apps through which the subscription can be taken out, such as the transport service provider Hansecom and Mobility Inside.
During checks, the subscription can then be proven by chip card or mobile phone ticket.
Anyone who has pre-ordered the Germany ticket and has not yet received it from the rnv, for example, can contact the transport company.
5. Can you take your dog or bike with you on the 49-euro ticket?
Dog owners who have purchased the 49-euro ticket naturally ask themselves whether their four-legged friend is included in the subscription.
In fact, this question is not that easy to answer: Despite the Deutschlandticket, the rules of the individual transport associations still apply.
At some, dogs are free, at others an additional ticket must be purchased and at some, dogs are even forbidden.
As a traveler you have to inform yourself before the journey.
When taking a bicycle with you, it is also not possible to give a clear answer as to whether the bike can be taken along free of charge.
As with many other matters, what applies depends on the respective tariff regulations of the individual transport associations and companies, informs Deutsche Bahn.
Under certain circumstances, the 49-euro ticket entitles you to take your bike with you free of charge.
In other cases, the two-wheeler has to stay outside, such as when the trains are full, and at some times there is an extra charge for this.
Here, too, the traveler must inform himself before boarding.
6. Are there discounts on the 49-euro ticket with an existing job ticket?
The answer to this question is yes, if the employer subsidizes the ticket by 25 percent.
According to the federal government, employees who already use a job ticket for their commute to work do not have to take action.
Deutsche Bahn (DB) will inform customers who already have a similar ticket about the new offer.
In fact, employers who subsidize their employees' tickets by 25 percent receive additional support from the federal government of 5 percent.
As a result, employees only have to pay 34.30 euros instead of 49 euros for the Germany ticket.
The federal government is providing this support until the end of 2024.
7. Are there discounts for pupils, trainees, senior citizens and students with the 49-euro ticket?
In some federal states such as Bavaria, cheaper versions of the Deutschlandticket for trainees and students have already been announced.
In other countries, concessions for seniors and schoolchildren are also being considered, and some federal states already have their own variants, such as the youth ticket in Baden-Württemberg.
Suggestions are usually based on a variant for 29 euros per month.
Unfortunately, students have currently lost the 49-euro ticket.
Because the fees for your semester ticket are usually already included in the tuition fees.
In this case, however, a reduction and Germany-wide validity of the existing semester ticket is currently being discussed.
However, the students can only accept this offer in the next winter semester and will therefore get nothing this summer.
8. Will the price of the 49-euro ticket remain the same?
The agreed price of 49 euros should only be used as an introductory price for the Germany ticket.
As a result, the price can be raised by the Bundestag in the future.
Changes in this regard should be coordinated between the federal and state governments.
The transport ministers are planning an introductory phase of two years for the 49-euro ticket.
From the second, the Germany ticket could become more expensive.
"Dynamization" in the form of automatic inflation compensation is planned.
(rah)
List of rubrics: © picture alliance/dpa/Philip Dulian
