The Ministry of Transport has certified that the railway companies in Thuringia have mastered the rush to local transport triggered by the 9-euro ticket at Whitsun. However, more money would have to be spent in order to be able to manage the turnaround in traffic to buses and trains.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – According to the Thuringian Ministry of Transport, the rush to the trains at Whitsun weekend has shown that the capacities in local public transport are currently hardly sufficient to transport many more passengers. “People leave their cars behind and want to take the bus and train, even if it’s fuller than on normal days,” Transport Minister Susanna Karawanskij (left) said on Tuesday when asked. That was a realization of the first weekend with the 9-euro ticket. In addition, it has become clear that more money is needed to equip local public transport in such a way that it is permanently attractive to passengers.
The federal government will continue to ask for more funds for local public transport, the minister said. During the period of validity of the 9-euro ticket, the situation in Thuringia will be monitored and, depending on demand and availability, capacities will be increased with additional wagons. However, the availability of additional material and staff as well as funding is limited. However, they would have to be increased in order to be able to logistically manage the traffic turnaround from cars to buses and trains.
It was not surprising that on the days of Pentecost there was a sharp increase in the number of passengers in local rail passenger transport on routes that are particularly frequented by tourists. The Thuringian railway companies were prepared according to their possibilities. “Although the trains were very busy at peak times and in some cases also overloaded, the transport companies managed the situation appropriately under the circumstances.”
