Succession to the 9-euro ticket open: dispute over money

Created: 04/10/2022 21:52

A Deutsche Bahn ticket machine is located at a train station.

© Moritz Frankenberg/dpa/symbol image

Local public transport customers are still unclear as to whether and when there will be a nationwide successor model to the 9-euro ticket.

The federal and state governments were unable to agree on financing issues during their deliberations on Tuesday.

The federal government rejected demands from the states for more money for local transport in general.

Berlin - One must continue to work on an agreement, said the chairman of the conference of prime ministers, Lower Saxony's head of government Stephan Weil (SPD), after the consultations in Berlin.

The 9-euro ticket has brought considerable relief in urban areas, but not in many rural areas where there is not such a good offer.

NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) said that it should not happen that bars have to be thinned out.

The transport ministers of the federal and state governments should consult again.

A conference is planned for mid-October.

The 9-euro ticket, which has been bought millions of times, made it possible to travel by bus and train nationwide for one month in June, July and August.

The federal traffic light coalition had agreed to provide the states with an additional 1.5 billion euros annually for a nationwide local transport ticket if the states provided at least the same amount.

The goal is a price between 49 and 69 euros per month.

However, the states insist on generally more money from the federal government for buses and trains.

On the one hand, they want a structural increase in the so-called regionalization funds by 1.5 billion euros this year, and on the other hand, due to the massive increase in energy prices in 2022 and 2023, an additional 1.65 billion euros each.

The federal government gives the federal states billions in financial support for local transport in the form of so-called regionalization funds.

The federal states order services from bus and train operators.

dpa