ASeveral small rallies were held on Saturday to demand the 9-euro ticket. In the afternoon, dozens of people came together in Stuttgart, among other places. Under the motto “9-Euro-Ticket-Keep on driving” they demanded a continuation of the cheap monthly ticket. The protests were part of a nationwide day of action. This was organized by an alliance of several environmental groups and parties. These included Fridays for Future, nature conservation organizations such as Greenpeace and BUND as well as the youth organizations of the Greens, SPD and Left. Around 150 people gathered in Mainz in the afternoon for a rally. There were also demonstrations in Hamburg.
In addition to the permanent validity of the regulation that expires at the end of August, the “9-Euro-Ticket-weiterfahren” initiative calls for an expansion of buses and trains, an improvement in the working conditions of the staff there and an overall shift in the nationwide budget from motorized individual transport to public transport .
“The best ticket is useless if the offer is not right”
On this Saturday and Sunday, passengers in buses and trains can make weekend trips with the 9-euro ticket for the last time. Especially at the train stations in Frankfurt, Cologne and Hamburg there was again a large rush on Saturday. The three-month discount campaign for local transport in Germany ends in August. From Thursday on, the usual fares will apply again. Millions of Germans have been traveling with the 9-euro ticket since the beginning of June. The monthly pass is valid nationwide on local trains and buses. Discussions about follow-up offers are ongoing at many levels, but nothing has been decided yet.
Hesse’s Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens), among others, proposed a follow-up solution on Saturday. “A 31 euro ticket for those in need and a 69 euro ticket for everyone else. That would cost around two billion euros,” he said in an interview with Hessischer Rundfunk. The federal government must live up to its responsibility and make more funds available for local public transport.
Demos and full trains
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The last 9 euro ticket weekend
In view of delays and failures, especially on the train, Al-Wazir said: “The best ticket is useless if the offer is not right.” The federal states are ready to negotiate with the federal government on how the offer could be improved. “But as long as Christian Lindner (Federal Minister of Finance/FDP) says he will not give a euro either for the expansion of the offer or for a follow-up offer of the ticket, there can be no solution.”
Union representatives are also demanding a successor plan. The regional associations of the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) and the Railway and Transport Union (EVG) in Bavaria are campaigning for a nationwide 365-euro ticket. The three-month phase of the 9-euro ticket must be evaluated, said DGB Bavaria chairman Bernhard Stiedl on Saturday. “But one thing is already clear: Attractive, uncomplicated and inexpensive public transport offers meet with great approval among people and are an important factor in decisively advancing the mobility turnaround, especially in Bavaria.” A 365-euro ticket from 2023 would be a solution .