Traveling across Germany for 49 euros per month is now possible as of Monday, May 1st, thanks to a new transportation ticket presented as a "revolution". With this initiative, the country aims to support the population facing inflation and promote the use of public transportation, which is less polluting. The individual combustion engine car is a significant source of greenhouse gas, which is the driving force behind climate change.
The "Deutschland-Ticket" offers unlimited access to buses, subways, local and regional trains, with high-speed trains excluded. The German Association of Public Transport Operators (VDV) expects at least 16 million future subscribers in a country of 84 million people. Approximately 750,000 tickets have already been sold, not including regular subscribers who have converted to the "Deutschland-Ticket". A funding agreement has been reached between the regions and the state, each contributing 1.5 billion euros per year, to avoid further increasing the deficit of Deutsche Bahn, the national railway operator, which is estimated at 30 billion euros. These expenses are criticized by the opposition, who believe that the money should have been used "to improve and renovate rail infrastructure," as Christian Democratic Union MP Michael Donth lamented. The network is aging, with a need for investment of 8.6 billion euros per year over a decade.
Crowded trains, delays, and technical problems...only 65.2% of long-distance trains arrived on time in 2022, a drop of 10 points in a year. These difficulties came to light when a first cut-price transportation ticket was introduced last summer. For 9 euros per month, Germans were able to use all regional transportation.
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The success was enormous with 52 million subscriptions sold, but railway operators struggled to manage the excitement. The experience of the 9 euro ticket did not convince France: "It's expensive, and there's very little shift from cars to trains," declared French Transport Minister Clément Beaune in October.