Nine-euro ticket in the Oberland: Are excursion regions threatened with "overkill"?

BRB boss concerned

Created: 04/29/2022, 11:25 am

By: Andreas Höger

What does the nine-euro ticket bring to the Oberland?

It's supposed to start in June.

But the BRB boss fears even more crowds on trains that are already overloaded.

Does the shot backfire?

Holzkirchen

– Only four weeks, then an unprecedented, billion-dollar marketing offensive for public transport is to start nationwide: From June to August, citizens can use regional trains, buses and trams for only nine euros a month.

With the nine-euro ticket, the Berlin traffic light coalition wants to cushion the burden on citizens from rising energy prices and make switching to bus and train palatable to more people.

With a 9-euro ticket in Bavaria: Even more crowds in excursion regions?

Arnulf Schuchmann, Managing Director of Bayerische Regiobahn (BRB), fears that things could backfire in the Oberland.

"I'm worried that we'll experience overkill in the excursion areas of the Oberland." Because he makes it clear: the BRB cannot run more frequent intervals or longer trains on the Oberland branches.

"That's simply not technically possible."

By the way: Everything from the region is also available in our regular Holzkirchen newsletter.

The platforms lack the length for more than four-part trains that can transport many passengers in one go.

"The biggest obstacle is the single track," says the BRB boss, "and we lack places to overtake and cross." Not to mention construction sites and rail replacement bus services, which can always be expected in summer.

"I don't really enjoy the prospect of the summer months."

9-euro ticket: BRB boss makes it clear - Bahn now regularly faces tearing tests

The combination of summer, holidays, weekends and good weather is already regularly putting BRB to the test.

"There are peak times on weekends, when it gets rough on trains and stations." Anyone who wants to get to know train travel with a nine-euro ticket at such times "is less likely to get back on a train afterwards".

The good intention of getting more people on buses and trains sustainably could turn into the opposite.

Bicycle groups, for example, who want to return home from a trip to the Munich area with a nine-euro ticket and an extra bicycle day ticket (six euros) could unexpectedly have to wait a long time at Oberland train stations.

"We will try in advance to prevent something like this by providing targeted passenger information," Schuchmann announced.

Because if rail newcomers look for their trains outside of peak times, “that would be great and would help us”.

The BRB boss considers the issuance of the nine-euro tickets, which should be available online, at the machine or counter, and the corresponding conversion of the more than 3000 ticket subscriptions, to be technically demanding but feasible: "It will work."

Another current report on the BRB can be found here.

You can find more current news from the district of Miesbach, Holzkirchen and the Tegernsee region at Merkur.de/Holzkirchen.