Germany ticket: Bundestag approves 49-euro ticket

The Bundestag decided on Thursday to introduce the nationwide valid Deutschlandticket on May 1, 2023. With the votes of the SPD, Greens and FDP against the CDU/CSU and AfD parliamentary groups, Parliament passed the necessary change to the regionalization law; the left abstained. Now the Federal Council still has to agree, whose plenum wants to meet at the end of March.

The Bundestag has rejected a motion for a resolution by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, with which the financing of the Deutschlandticket should also be secured beyond the year 2023. An AfD amendment was also rejected. She had called for the 49-euro ticket to be introduced on January 1, 2024 and designed as a three-month ticket for 147 euros. Applications from the left, which had demanded a nine-euro ticket and a “zero-euro ticket” for students, pupils and trainees, were also rejected.

The Deutschlandticket or 49-euro ticket is intended to be a digital local transport ticket valid throughout Germany that is offered as a monthly cancellable subscription. From 2023 to 2025, the federal government will contribute 1.5 billion euros annually, and the federal states will receive this money as additional regionalization funds. This year, the federal government will also bear 50 percent of any additional costs that may arise. In order to permanently secure the financing of the 49-euro ticket beyond 2025, a new legislative procedure is to be initiated in 2025 after an evaluation of the traffic and financial effects.

“Knitted with a Hot Needle”

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) emphasized that the law for the 49-euro ticket was introduced in a very short time. Michael Donth from the CDU/CSU, on the other hand, said that the law was “knitted with a hot needle” and that the 49-euro ticket would primarily benefit people in urban areas, while rural areas would continue to be disadvantaged. The “main mistake” of the Deutschlandticket is that the public transport expansion is not planned.

Detlef Müller (SPD) replied to the accusation that the ticket could only be purchased digitally: “Sometimes gentle pressure is necessary to further develop solutions.” Wolfgang Wiehle from the AfD pointed out that the Court of Auditors had only confirmed a few days ago that “the railway was in need of restructuring”. In addition, questions have not been clarified as to how the long-distance bus industry should be dealt with.

Bernd Riexinger from Die Linke said that, calculated from today and up to 2030, there will be a gap of 11 billion euros in funding for operating costs alone, and that an additional 15 billion euros a year will be needed if transport services in local rail passenger transport are to be doubled. For the Green Stefan Gelbhaar, the 49-euro ticket is “a traffic-historical project”. Public transport will become cheaper for ten million subscribers.

(anw)

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