Will the successor to the 9-euro ticket come at the turn of the year or not? From Bayern’s point of view, the answer is clear.
Munich (dpa / lby) – The planned start of the 49-euro ticket for buses and trains cannot be implemented from Bavaria’s point of view. “I think a start on January 1st is out of the question,” said Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) on Tuesday in Munich after a cabinet meeting. The reason for this is the many unanswered questions about financing and practical implementation.
With a view to the forthcoming conference of the federal and state governments on November 2nd, Bernreiter emphasized that he hoped that the federal government would finally take up the demands of the states for a permanent increase in regionalization funds. “It doesn’t help if we have a cheap ticket, but in the end we don’t have anything that drives.” Without regionalization funds, there is a risk that many buses and trains will be canceled and that there will be a decrease in public transport connections.
The federal and state transport ministers are aiming for a nationwide local transport ticket for 49 euros a month as the successor to the popular 9-euro ticket from the summer. The aim is to introduce it by January 1, 2023. However, the federal states are only willing to co-finance if there is an agreement on a general increase in regionalization funds – they use the money from Berlin to order bus and train services from transport providers. The aim is to clarify between Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the federal states.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) also recently stated that he is relying on a digital ticket. Bernreiter again complained that a paper form should also be possible. In general, Bernreiter once again accused Wissing of bad style in dealing with the countries. As an example, he cited Wissing’s interviews on financing issues, which the federal states, however, rejected.
The federal government wants to provide 1.5 billion euros per year for the 49-euro ticket from 2023 and is counting on co-financing the federal states in the same amount. They make an increase in regionalization funds by 1.5 billion euros from this year a condition. With this money from the federal government, the federal states order rail and bus services from the transport providers. In addition, the federal government is to increase the funds in 2022 and 2023 by 1.65 billion euros each due to the rise in energy prices.
