A user looks at the Germany ticket application website
Image: Hannes P. Albert/dpa
Deutsche Bahn estimates that every fifth person in Germany will buy a Deutschlandticket for 49 euros. These include new customers and those who have previously used more expensive season tickets.
DIn the first few days after the start of sales, Deutsche Bahn registered great demand for the 49-euro subscription for local and regional public transport. “The demand is enormous. In the first three days of advance sales, 250,000 Germany tickets were bought from the railways alone,” says regional transport director Evelyn Palla of the newspaper “Bild am Sonntag”. “On Monday we had twice as many hits as usual.”
The sale of the ticket, which is valid from May, began last Monday. It can also be purchased from all other regional transport companies and associations. Palla predicts that one in five Germans will use the new 49-euro ticket and that demand will remain high in the future. “We expect that around six million people nationwide will take out a subscription for local transport for the first time with the Deutschlandticket.” In addition, around eleven million passengers who already have a subscription are expected to switch to the new offer. “That’s a total of 17 million users.”
Valid on trains and buses
The new Deutschlandticket enables nationwide journeys in the buses and trains of local and regional public transport. It is only available as a monthly subscription and is issued as a chip card or mobile phone ticket. Paper tickets will also be available temporarily until the end of the year, but they must be digitally controllable. The paper solution was introduced for associations that still need some time for digitization.
The subscription is intended to make regional and local public transport more attractive and affordable. It usually costs 49 euros per month. Some countries are planning cheaper tariffs, for example for schoolchildren or people with particularly low incomes.