Price increases soon after 9-euro ticket?

"Then we wouldn't have won anything"

Created: 06/29/2022, 08:07

By: Katarina Amtmann

The 9-euro ticket has been valid since June 1st.

© IMAGO / Manfred Segerer

The 9-euro ticket has been valid since June 1st.

It is well received by day trippers, commuters are less enthusiastic about switching to public transport.

Munich - sometimes to the Tegernsee, for cycling on the Danube or for a stroll through the city to Bayreuth - the free ticket at a bargain price is well received in Bavaria.

Commuters, on the other hand, are less likely to change to buses and trains with the 9-euro ticket.

Fuller trains because of the 9-euro ticket: "You weren't used to it anymore"

Since the introduction of the 9-euro ticket, many trains in Bavaria are full again.

"Some passengers may be surprised that someone is sitting right next to them again.

You weren't used to that anymore," says Annette Luckner, spokeswoman for the Bavarian Regiobahn (BRB).

Deutsche Bahn, the Agilis railway company operating in northern Bavaria and the Munich transport company (MVG) also report fuller trains, especially to tourist destinations.

"There are more day trippers, more older people on the trains," says Luckner.

"Many are happy that they can travel further afield with little money." BRB trains run between Eichstätt, Augsburg, Allgäu, Tegernsee, Munich, Kufstein and Berchtesgaden.

“During the pandemic, we sometimes only had 30 percent capacity utilization.

Now the trains are as full as before Corona.”

In the regional trains of Deutsche Bahn, “as expected, there are regional peaks in utilization, especially along tourist routes,” the railway said.

During the week, the 9-euro ticket only increased the number of passengers by around ten percent.

With the 9-euro ticket, I make my way from the Allgäu to Munich.

What I experience in the packed regional train leaves me speechless.

An experience report.

9-euro ticket ensures fuller trains in Bavaria: "Far from being overloaded"

The Munich transport company (MVG) also counts around ten percent more passengers.

During the week you are still below the pre-corona level, on weekends around the pre-corona level.

This means that one is "far from overloaded," explains a spokesman.

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At Agilis, many passengers cycle along the Danube Cycle Path and on some other routes.

"There have already been isolated cases in which we no longer had the capacity to take bicycles with us," reports spokeswoman Alisa Weinhold.

"We see an additional incentive for tourists and residents of the surrounding region to visit the larger cities in our route network (Regensburg, Ulm, Bayreuth)." However, the capacity utilization of the trains depends on the route, time and weather.

"We're still a long way from reaching the pre-crisis level."

An overcrowded regional train of the East Bavarian State Railway from Munich to Regensburg was cleared by the federal police last Sunday.

That made headlines, but remained an exception.

Consumer centers are demanding a 29-euro ticket for local transport

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"We move everything we have" - ​​construction sites as a problem

The railway emphasizes that it has increased its regional and long-distance services.

"We're moving everything we have," said a spokeswoman.

The BRB also emphasizes: "Everything that we have is rolling." However, the many construction sites and slow-moving sections of the DB Netz, which is taking a very close look at its tracks after the accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, are an enormous problem.

Half of the trains on the BRB routes towards Chiemgau and Inntal are therefore delayed.

Pro Bahn: “We draw mixed conclusions about the 9-euro ticket”

Lukas Iffländer, deputy chairman of the Pro Bahn association, says: "We draw mixed conclusions about the 9-euro ticket." The railway operators did get the "two to three percent that were still possible".

But: "The system is at the limit".

Commuter traffic has increased, but is not yet back to the pre-corona level.

In leisure traffic, on the other hand, it is very crowded, especially on Pentecost, Corpus Christi and the following weekend.

There have also been conflicts between wheelchair users and cyclists.

People who are traveling by train for the first time in a long time could be deterred by negative experiences.

However, the 9-euro ticket shows how many people would use public transport if it were cheap and easy, says Iffländer.

Agilis spokeswoman Weinhold emphasizes that attention to public transport is higher today than ever before.

"We hope to show people that there are alternatives to cars and that in the end new customers will stay with Agilis."

A 9-euro ticket costs taxpayers billions - "super special offers" can hardly be financed in the long run

However, the free ticket at a bargain price will cost the taxpayer 2.5 billion euros by the end of August.

Even the Baden-Württemberg Transport Minister Winfried Hermann (Greens) admits: "In the long run, super special offers like the 9-euro ticket can hardly be financed." BRB spokeswoman Luckner says: "The decisive question is always who pays." Iffländer even expects price increases again soon.

"Then we wouldn't have won anything in the end."

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