DB regional boss on the 49-euro ticket: "We're ready to go"

Created: 01/11/2023 05:59

By: Wolfgang Mulke

Flexible use of space will also start in a commuter train in Bavaria in March.

There are zones for work and for families.

In metropolitan regions, Deutsche Bahn wants to create more space by allowing seats to be folded away (symbol image).

© Action Pictures/IMAGO

In an interview with Münchner Merkur, DB Regio boss Evelyn Palla reveals the background to the 49-euro ticket and talks about a new Deutsche Bahn commuter train in Bavaria.

Munich – The 49-euro ticket for local transport will be available in spring.

However, the range of buses and trains is not sufficient for a major modal shift.

The railway subsidiary DB Regio wants to change that with new offers.

Evelyn Palla, head of DB Regio, explains the plans behind it.

The South Tyrolean has been with Deutsche Bahn since 2019.

Since July 2022 she has been Chairwoman of the Regional Transport Board.

Evelyn Palla: "The Deutschlandticket removes a major hurdle for our customers"

How are the preparations for the 49 euro ticket going?

Can it launch in April?

We're ready to go.

Deutsche Bahn and all players in the industry want the ticket.

It's great that we now get a nationwide flat rate for local public transport in Germany.

This is a big and important step towards the mobility revolution.

With the Deutschlandticket, a major hurdle for our customers is removed: public transport becomes even easier.

Nobody has to worry about tickets and fare zones anymore.

In future I'll just get on the next train or bus and drive off.

In doing so, we eliminate a competitive advantage of the car.

Of course, all financial, collective bargaining and legal issues, including those with the EU, must first be clarified.

But I don't see any more stumbling blocks here.

Will the trains be even fuller because you can't bring any additional services onto the rails?

With the Deutschlandticket, we will continue to shift traffic to climate-friendly public transport.

The ticket will be a great success, even if, due to the higher price, the demand will not be quite as high as last summer's 9-euro ticket.

We have sufficient capacities.

The Germany ticket will be in demand above all in the metropolitan regions, as we have seen with the 9-euro ticket.

There we have the largest offer and can also further increase the number of seats.

We are also investing in our train fleet: in the past two years alone, we have renewed or modernized 800 trains.

After all, you can only put trains on the track that have been ordered by the authorities.

Will more traffic be ordered?

The individual authorities actually order more.

We experienced that in 2022.

Of course, it helps that the federal government has increased the regionalization funds again.

So we are constantly getting a little more supply on the market.

Local transport of the future: "Must create a real alternative to the private car"

As recently as autumn, the transport companies warned of a thinning out of the offer because their costs have risen so enormously.

Has this danger now been averted?

I do not assume that public transport will be thinned out in the short term.

There were none at the last timetable change in December.

Cancellations must be announced well in advance.

I am not aware of any conversations about this.

So I don't expect any thinning out in 2023 either.

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By the end of the decade, local transport is expected to double.

How is this goal to be achieved?

The major lever for further modal shift is rural areas.

55 million people live there.

Above all, we must create alternatives to the car for them.

We can't build rails everywhere, and the bus route concept is also increasingly reaching its limits.

If we want the mobility revolution, we have to think in new concepts.

What do you mean?

It is important that we meet people at their front door and create a real alternative to the private car.

That's why we want to work very specifically with small, flexible vehicles without fixed routes and stops that can pick people up at their front door and take them to the nearest train station whenever they need to.

We will only be successful if we approach mobility in a much more integrated manner and closely link rail, bus and flexible on-demand transport – so-called on-demand transport.

Therein lies the great opportunity for public transport in the coming years.

DB Regio: "Key Technology" - Autonomous shared taxis as a solution for rural areas?

What is the railway doing specifically for a better offer in the country?

We are supplementing our existing bus service.

The goal is a well-linked offer between rail, bus lines and on-demand transport that is integrated into the tariffs of the transport associations and that can keep up with private cars.

We can do everything that is necessary for this.

There are already many examples nationwide where we make offers for the last few kilometers before and after the train station.

I want to expand on that now.

How far are you with autonomous driving, which will only make on-demand services economical?

Autonomous driving is a key technology for us.

Autonomous shuttles - i.e. shared taxis without a driver - can be an even more flexible connection to climate-friendly rail, especially in rural areas.

We have come a long way on this topic: With the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund we are starting this year in Darmstadt and in the district of Offenbach with a test of the world's first autonomous on-demand fleet in local transport.

It will be fully integrated into the existing public transport offering.

The shared taxis should travel independently of routes or timetables, and at the regular speed in normal traffic.

Are there any other innovations in public transport?

For me, innovations are the key to the mobility revolution.

In Bavaria, we are launching a commuter train in March that customers can use to make better use of their time: for example, there are zones for working, for families, or for groups who want to sit together.

At the same time, we are developing trains for metropolitan regions in which we can increase passenger capacity at the push of a button during peak times by folding away bench seats.

We are also introducing real-time load indicators on the first routes in regional traffic.

Our passengers can then already see at the station where they can find a free seat.

Evelyn Palla, Board Member for Regional Transport at Deutsche Bahn, and Christian Bernreiter, Bavarian Minister of Transport, in front of the Idea Train Südwestbayernbahn.

© Deutsche Bahn AG

Deutsche Bahn and the need to master the rapid growth in traffic

Is it even possible to double the number of passengers given the low network capacities?

The infrastructure is currently unable to keep up with the rapid growth in traffic.

We have therefore initiated a radical change of course in the renovation of the infrastructure and are starting a general renovation of entire corridors.

There is enough space for more trains and additional passengers on the future high-speed network.

Trains are currently being canceled because there is a lack of staff or sick leave is high.

When will it get better?

This is a problem for all companies in Germany.

We are in a good position and can compensate for sick leave to a certain extent.

But if too many employees get sick in one place, trains will be canceled at certain points.

That's why we're hiring more people than ever before.

In the past year alone, we hired around 28,000 new employees.

And we want to continue that in 2023.

So we're well on the way to continuing to drive in a stable manner.