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Passengers board the subway at the Hauptwache station in Frankfurt/Main
Photo: Hannes P. Albert / dpa
Fuel prices have increased significantly since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
To relieve the burden, the federal government wants to implement a one-off action: A bus and train ticket is to be introduced with which German citizens can commute much cheaper than before and also be able to travel to a limited extent.
And, of course, the ticket that surprised the transport industry is designed to reduce fuel consumption in the country.
The nine-euro ticket is expected to be available from June 1st, but it is only valid for local and regional transport.
The federal and state governments struggled for a long time to implement the offer.
But now the details are clear – an overview:
What can the special ticket do?
With an amount of only nine euros per month, travelers should not only be able to manage the daily journey to and from work or to go shopping, but also be able to travel to the sea or the mountains by bus, S-Bahn and U-Bahn as well as regional trains.
Exactly as allowed by local and regional transport in Germany.
For example, a journey with a regional train between Hamburg and Berlin is possible.
Because the ticket is valid for the whole of Germany, regardless of individual transport associations, but only for regional transport, but not for long-distance transport by Deutsche Bahn.
This also makes it possible to use local public transport, and a customer from Hamburg can also use public transport in Berlin, for example.
According to initial information, the ticket will be offered for 90 days.
For every three months, 27 euros would be due.
From when is the ticket valid?
The campaign was initially scheduled to start at the beginning of May, but was then postponed by a month.
"We shouldn't shift it too much into the summer, because we want to provide an incentive to save energy in the acute situation," said Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP).
That's why the campaign is now valid from June 1st to the end of August, for a month, as it was called.
This means that if someone buys the ticket in mid-June, for example, it is valid until the end of June.
The monthly ticket is not automatically extended.
According to a first cautious estimate, the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) expects that a total of 30 million old and new passengers will use the ticket.
But one spoke of a great experiment.
Where can you buy the ticket?
The sale of the cheap tickets should primarily run through the local transport companies.
The tickets will be available there online or via the Deutsche Bahn Navigator app and at the counter.
In addition to the customer centers, it can also be purchased from ticket machines, contrary to initial information.
Wissing initially thought it was pointless to convert ticket machines.
According to the VDV, a nationwide app is also planned.
The association is planning a nationwide information campaign, also with a digital platform.
How is the ticket financed?
The plans of the traffic light coalition for the monthly ticket were also a topic in negotiations between the federal and state governments on Tuesday about a financial package to support and strengthen local public transport.
It was undisputed that the federal government would bear the costs of 2.5 billion euros for the ticket.
According to the VDV, however, the money must be with the companies and associations via the countries before the start.
In country circles it was said that the negotiations about a sum of 1.5 billion euros were particularly difficult - the countries are demanding this money so that increased energy prices for transport companies can be compensated for.
This is also intended to prevent other ticket prices from having to be increased.
Do you have any concerns or criticism?
Yes.
Some experts suspect overloads.
The ticket is scheduled to start on June 1st, which is a Wednesday – the weekend after that is Pentecost.
The Pro Bahn passenger association predicts problems with implementation and expects trains to be overcrowded on routes popular with tourists.
In order to implement the idea smoothly, more trains would have to be provided, according to Pro-Bahn spokesman Karl-Peter Naumann.
Regional passenger associations such as the »Munich Passengers Campaign« are demanding something similar.
VDV general manager Oliver Wolff said that if there were overcrowded trains, it would be difficult to offer additional ones.
“The federal government and the industry will have to deal with this circumstance together.” There is simply no more capacity.
In principle, Pro Bahn described the planned special ticket as a good approach to promoting local public transport, but complained that the ticket should only be valid for regional transport and not for ICE, IC or EC.
Long-distance commuters got nothing, although they also suffered from the high energy costs.
In general, however, the ticket is seen as an important contribution that can increase the number of passengers, which has fallen as a result of the corona pandemic.
How do you deal with holders of monthly or annual tickets?
If you already have a discount card for the current year - for example through your employer - or a subscription for local public transport in your region, you may have already paid for it.
These customers can now have some of the costs reimbursed.
According to the VDV, there should therefore be a loyalty bonus from their transport association for subscribers to monthly tickets.
According to the information, subscription customers do not have to worry about anything, the repayment should be made automatically - for example by reducing the direct debit or a credit note.
You will soon be informed about this by your provider, because the organization is the responsibility of the respective transport company.
The ticket is intended to be a trial offer for new customers.
If they agree, they should receive connection offers from the transport company.
And the advantages of their respective tickets are retained despite the nine-euro ticket.
This can apply, for example, to taking other people with you on weekends.
However, no final decision on the ticket has been made yet.
The transport associations are still working on details of a regulation with the federal and state governments.
Because the legal framework must also be created: an amendment to the regionalization law is necessary, on the basis of which regionalization funds are paid by the federal government to the states to finance local rail passenger transport.
The schedule is tight, and the Bundestag and Bundesrat would have to agree by May 20th.
joe
