9-euro ticket can come: Federal Council agrees to financing - from when and for whom it applies

Created: 2022-05-22Updated: 2022-05-22, 3:15 p.m

By: Patricia Huber

The nine-euro ticket has been the subject of controversy over the past few weeks.

The financing in particular caused criticism.

The Federal Council has now approved it.

Berlin – The planned nine-euro monthly tickets for buses and trains in summer can come.

On Friday, the Bundesrat approved the financing law passed by the Bundestag for the special campaign, which is to start on June 1 for three months.

This means that nationwide ticket sales at Deutsche Bahn and other providers can begin this Monday, as announced.

In some places it is already running.

Nine-euro ticket in a relief package: this is how it works

The cheap tickets are part of the relief packages from the traffic light coalition because of the sharp rise in energy prices.

At the same time, they should be a big taster campaign to attract more passengers and encourage them to switch from their cars.

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) spoke of an opportunity for local public transport and climate-friendly mobility.

In June, July and August, the special tickets are intended to enable travel in local and regional transport nationwide – for nine euros a month each, which is much cheaper than normal monthly tickets.

However, journeys with long-distance trains such as ICE and EC are excluded.

According to the law that has now been passed, the federal government is providing the states with 2.5 billion euros, among other things, to compensate for the loss of income from transport providers.

There had previously been several calls from the federal states for more money for public transport in general.

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The federal government is currently planning an online platform on which tickets can be purchased digitally.

But some regional transport companies such as MVV have already announced that tickets will be available for purchase in the company's corresponding apps.

If you prefer to have it in paper form, you can probably also buy it at the customer center or from a vending machine.

But customers who have already taken out a ticket subscription will also benefit from the discount.

According to the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), subscribers to a monthly or annual ticket are automatically credited or refunded the difference to the nine euros.

The same should apply to school and student tickets.

The discount should also be applied here.

Train and bus operators and the transport associations are preparing for a larger influx of passengers - full trains to excursion destinations are expected, especially on weekends.