The federal and state governments agree: the 49-euro ticket will be available on May 1st

The federal and state governments agreed on Friday to start the 49-euro monthly ticket on May 1st. “What many wish for will become reality on May 1st,” said the chairman of the conference of transport ministers, NRW transport minister Oliver Krischer (Greens), on Friday after the meeting of a federal-state working group. Sales of nationwide tickets for buses and trains in regional transport should therefore start on April 3rd, he said. Not only has progress been made on these issues, “but a final agreement has been reached on the really important points,” said Krischer. Various issues had been debated for months.

However, the agreement is still subject to the EU Commission approving the 49-euro ticket. The project concerns state aid issues which the Commission is currently examining. In the past few weeks, consumer protection groups had spoken out in favor of a ticket that was as flexible as possible.

Agreement also on the job ticket

According to Krischer, the federal and state governments also reached agreement on the so-called job ticket. Employers should therefore be given the opportunity to buy the ticket with a five percent discount. The prerequisite is that they pass it on to their employees at a discount of at least 25 percent.

According to dpa information, no agreement was reached on the question of how digital the ticket will be, at least initially. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) is aiming for an exclusively digital ticket. The Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) recently called for the possibility for transport associations to be able to issue a paper ticket, at least temporarily. Not all associations are therefore able to offer a digital ticket.

The 49-euro ticket is the successor to the 9-euro ticket, which was introduced for a few months in 2022 to relieve citizens in the face of increased energy prices. This made for fuller trains, so that when it ended, calls for a permanent solution became louder.

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(mki)