2024-04-19 06:50:00
The Deutschlandticket has been around for around a year – and it will stay there for many years to come. However, it is still unclear whether the price can be maintained and how the ticket can be financed.
The Deutschlandticket for local and regional transport is intended to remain permanent – but the exact financing and thus the price development are unclear. From the perspective of the states, whether and how much the price will rise in the coming year also depends on the federal government’s “homework”. NRW Transport Minister Oliver Krischer (Greens) made this clear in Münster after the Transport Ministers’ Conference.
The Deutschlandticket for 49 euros per month can be used nationwide on local and regional transport since May 1, 2023. A good eleven million tickets were recently sold every month. The federal government will pay 1.5 billion euros a year until 2025 – as will the states as a whole. The money from the federal and state governments is needed to compensate for loss of income for transport companies due to cheaper tickets compared to previous offers.
Wissing stays away from the transport ministers’ conference
In November, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the prime ministers agreed: Money that was not needed in 2023 can be transferred to 2024. There is money left over because the ticket only started in May – we are talking about 700 million euros. Based on this commitment, transport ministers decided in January that ticket prices would remain stable this year.
Only: The federal states have criticized the federal states for not having provided for a so-called extra-annuality of the funds – i.e. their use over several years. The so-called regionalization law must be changed immediately – otherwise there would be a major financing problem, said Krischer as chairman of the conference of transport ministers. A spokeswoman for Federal Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) said the ministry would soon present a draft law.
The states also want the funding to be extended until 2025. Wissing was not present at the conference. He sent two state secretaries.
Will the ticket be more expensive in 2025?
A price increase next year is possible – but not guaranteed. This depends on various factors, such as the exact amount of income, including the number of tickets sold, as well as price increases such as for staff.
Bavaria’s department head Christian Bernreiter (CSU) said there would be less money to transfer from 2024 to 2025. His Baden-Württemberg colleague Winfried Hermann (Greens) said that in the coming weeks we would have a good numerical basis as to whether the price can be maintained. “We should stop speculating now until all the numbers are on the table.”
Saxony-Anhalt’s responsible minister, Lydia Hüskens (FDP), advocated that the price of the ticket should not be decided politically, but rather follow the general price increase.
The transport ministers want to set a ticket price for 2025 “in good time” in the second half of the year, as stated in a paper.
No expiration date
What happens if the federal government’s 1.5 billion no longer flows? Long-term financing with “mechanisms for transparent pricing” is to be developed, as the paper states. What this means in concrete terms, i.e. whether the price increases every year according to certain criteria, is unclear.
But the ticket should stay. Lower Saxony’s Transport Minister Olaf Lies (SPD) said: “The successful D-Ticket model will continue in the long term.” Krischer said: “If I create a ticket, it has no expiration date.” As long as it is financed and bought by people, the ticket will exist. There are three parts to the pricing mechanism: the states’ share of the financing, the federal government’s share and the share brought by customers. “We have to reconcile that.”
The President of the Association of German Transport Companies, Ingo Wortmann, said that only with a long-term perspective and financing security can the industry plan its offers accordingly and adapt to them sustainably.