Germany had never seen that. The country’s regional rail network came close to saturation during the Pentecost holidays. And for good reason: against inflation and the increase in the price of gasoline, a fixed price of 9 euros per month, allowing users to borrow regional trains at will, was launched on Wednesday to last until the end. august. More than 6.5 million packages sold have already been accounted for by Deutsche Bahn. Their real number should prove to be much higher since each public transport authority offers them.
To cope with the additional influx of travelers as the tourist season begins, Deutsche Bahn has made around fifty additional trains available. This did not prevent congestion during the long weekend of Pentecost with crowded regional trains, in particular from Berlin Central Station to the seaside resorts of the Baltic Sea, and its share of disgruntled travellers. Many users traveling with their bicycles were unable to access the trains and seats were scarce.
“With 86,000 journeys, everything that can roll has rolled (…) during the long weekend”, explained Jörg Sandvoss, the boss of Deutsche Bahn Regio, quoted Tuesday in a press release. “We literally put everything we have in motion: trains, buses, service personnel”, he argued, welcoming “the tour de force” accomplished by the staff during this first weekend.
To encourage people to take public transport
The monthly ticket at 9 euros, available in June, July and August, is part of a package of exceptional measures adopted by Olaf Scholz’s coalition to relieve consumers in the face of inflation and soaring energy prices. energy. In the country of the queen car, the government, in which the Greens are one of the two partners of the Social Democrats, also intends to encourage more people to travel with buses, metros, trams and suburban or regional trains.
For weeks, the media and social networks have been enthusiastic about this pass, even if their holders must show patience and self-sacrifice to cross Germany. Thus, to connect Munich to Berlin, it takes about ten hours – without delays –, compared to 4 and a half hours with an ICE high-speed train.