2023-04-30 04:00:14
It was originally an anti-inflation initiative, an idea born in 2022 at the height of the energy crisis, intended to encourage motorists to take the train: a single local public transport ticket valid throughout Germany, at a attractive price.
Tested at a price of 9 euros during the summer of 2022, the ticket was so popular that Berlin decided to make the system permanent. From 1is May, Germany is offering a one-off subscription at 49 euros per month, valid for all local transport and regional trains, throughout the country. As of April 24, 750,000 tickets had already been sold in presale, announced the Minister of Transport.
The system is subsidized by the federal state to the tune of 1.5 billion euros, on an equal basis with the Länder. This compromise is the result of a very long negotiation with the regional authorities, some offering a monthly subscription two to three times more expensive. The new offer is presented as a central element of efforts to reduce CO emissions2 in the transport sector, the worst pupil of German decarbonisation.
Local particularities
It is also a shock of simplification rare in a federal country attached to its local particularisms. In public transport, the countless zones and their opaque pricing have so far formed a discouraging maquis for travelers. The simplicity offered by the new ticket not only makes it easier and cheaper to travel locally or regionally, but it also offers new possibilities for train travel throughout Germany, if you are a little patient .
Because, if the ICE high-speed trains cannot be used with the season ticket, almost all local and regional means of transport are accessible: a tourist leaving Karlsruhe who would like to test the famous suspended metro in Wuppertal or one of the ferries that cross the port of Hamburg will be able to do so with the same ticket. The Berlin transport company BVG, known for its facetious advertisements, illustrated the new travel options opened up by the new Deutschlandticket : “Bavaria now belongs to Berlin”, dares a provocative poster, which presents a Berlin yellow tram on an alpine background. Meaning: it has never been so easy to cross Germany by public transport.
Provided, of course, that you can get on a train… And arrive at your destination. This is where the ticket could hold some unpleasant surprises. Germany, which had divested heavily from rail over the past twenty years, has embarked on a huge program to renovate its dilapidated infrastructure. On certain very busy sections, such as in the south-west of the country, the works considerably disrupt traffic, which accentuates staff problems, damage to toilets or problems with the supply of bar cars, with delays at destination. which often exceed an hour.
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