Traveling in Germany for 49 euros per month: a new transport ticket valid from Monday promises users a “revolution”. But the cost and the effectiveness of the device question.
With this initiative, Germany wants to both support the population in the face of inflation, while promoting the use of less polluting transport.
The “Deutschlandticket” offers unlimited access to buses, metros, local and regional trains – excluding high-speed trains.
Before concluding that this is “the most important transport reform in history”, in the words of Transport Minister Volker Wissing, or a “railway revolution”, according to an elected environmentalist, the subscription at 49 euros must prove itself.
The German association of public transport managers (VDV) expects at least 16 million future subscribers, in a country of 84 million inhabitants. Around 750,000 tickets have already been sold, not counting users who have converted their regular subscription to a “Deutschlandticket”.
A financing agreement has been reached between the regions and the State, which will each pay 1.5 billion euros per year, to avoid further widening the deficit of Deutsche Bahn, the national rail operator, estimated at 30 billion euros. euros.
Spending criticized by the opposition. According to her, the money should have been used “to improve and renovate the railway infrastructure”, lamented Christian Democrat MP Michael Donth.
The network is aging, with an investment requirement of 8.6 billion euros per year over a decade.
Crowded trains, delays, technical problems… only 65.2% of long-distance trains arrived on time in 2022, a drop of 10 points over one year.
These difficulties came to light when a first discounted transport ticket was introduced last summer. For 9 euros per month, the Germans had been able to use all regional transport.
The success had been immense with 52 million subscriptions sold, but the railway operators had struggled to manage the craze.
“To solve these problems, it is certainly not a solution to lower the price of subscriptions”, estimates with AFP Christian Böttger, researcher for the Technical University of Berlin.
The Minister of Transport has not ruled out an increase in ticket prices in the future, to make the formula more economically viable.
Especially since the expected transfer of car traffic to public transport is not guaranteed.
Many users, living “far from city centers”, do not have “sufficient rail infrastructure that could replace the car”, according to the expert.
According to a report from the Statistical Office, the 9 euro ticket has just allowed road traffic to “stagnate” compared to 2019.
And automobiles emitted more greenhouse gas emissions in Germany in 2022, up 0.8 million tonnes, according to the Federal Environment Agency.
Another debate: the train is certainly more “green” than the car (the German national railway company derives 61% of its electricity from renewables) but still remains polluting (the rest comes in particular from coal and gas).
The ticket at 49 euros will mainly benefit “urban people who already have a slightly more expensive subscription”, explains Oliver Wittig, transport expert at EY, to AFP.
Many countries are seeking to relaunch the rail industry to reduce the carbon impact of the transport sector.
The experience of the 9 euro ticket had not convinced France: “It is expensive and there is very little transfer from the car to the train”, declared Clément Beaune, the French Minister of Transport, in October.
In Spain, free rail passes for regional and commuter trains were launched in September.
According to Renfe, the Spanish rail operator, 2.1 million subscriptions were issued in the first quarter.
In Austria, a “climate ticket” allows since 2021 to use all public transport in the country, main line trains included, for 1,095 euros per year, contributing to a “boom” in train travel, according to the operator ÖBB.
01/05/2023 09:21:13 – Berlin (AFP) © 2023 AFP
