Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Baden-Württemberg’s Transport Minister Winfried Hermann (Greens) sees the agreement between the federal and state governments on a 49-euro ticket as largely positive. It will undoubtedly be a “game changer,” he told the German Press Agency on Wednesday evening. “It’s super cheap and wonderfully simple. It heralds the end of the tariff jungle in Germany. It invites you to change and get on. It’s a climate ticket.”
But Hermann warned against too much euphoria. “However, it could soon have the effect that more buses and trains and more funds will be needed.” According to the decision of the Prime Ministers’ Conference, the federal states would receive more regionalization funds, but unfortunately not enough for good and well-developed public transport.
The digital Deutschlandticket, which is valid throughout Germany, is intended for an introductory price of 49 euros per month in a subscription that can be canceled monthly, as stated in the decision by the federal and state governments. The new ticket costs three billion euros, and the federal and state governments each finance half of it.
At the same time, the federal government is increasing the so-called regionalization funds, which the federal states use to order train and bus connections from the transport companies. The federal states had made this a condition for co-financing the 49-euro ticket.
According to the decision, the federal government will provide additional regionalization funds of one billion euros annually from 2022. In addition, the regionalization funds are to be increased annually by three percent, so far it has been 1.8 percent. From the point of view of the federal government, the states should increase their annual contributions accordingly. The federal and state governments want to talk about the further development of the regionalization funds and the Germany ticket for the period from 2025 at the end of 2024. The federal states had demanded a clear increase in funds.
