Local transport companies have felt the effects of the 9-euro ticket and want a successor solution. In the tourism industry, on the other hand, there was no major effect.
Schwerin/Rostock (dpa/mv) – From Thursday, the 9-euro ticket will no longer be valid. In the north-east, too, more people were attracted to buses and trains. Local transport companies want a successor solution. Tourism companies have noticed little of the ticket. Corresponding routes were well used even without the offer.
In Rostock, new passengers could be won in the three months, reported Transport Senator Holger Matthäus. “For the months of June, July and August, passenger numbers were between 6 and 13 percent higher than in 2019.” That was up to 15,000 more passengers per day. In June, 3.86 million in the Hanseatic city was a high for this month for more than ten years. The additional users mainly traveled by bus and train in leisure traffic in the afternoons and evenings and also at weekends.
In the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, the number of passengers in the three months was 23 percent above the level of the same period in 2019, said the managing director of the VLP transport company, Stefan Lösel. This is an excellent result for rural areas. He spoke out in favor of a phased successor model: In his view, the best would be a 365-euro annual ticket for all local transport in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and a 69-euro monthly ticket for nationwide local transport use.
According to a survey by the State Tourism Association, the ticket did not affect the business of most tourism companies. More than three quarters of the companies stated that the offer was irrelevant to them.
“The ticket has its additional effects, especially in local transport. In terms of tourism, there is a need to catch up on lines, intervals and frequencies,” said the state’s tourism officer, Tobias Woitendorf. The existing connections to the tourist regions were already heavily used before the ticket was introduced.
The seasonal survey of the State Tourism Association among more than 450 companies was aimed at hotels, guesthouses and operators of holiday apartments as well as restaurants, leisure providers and transport providers such as local transport companies. Transport carriers reported lower guest satisfaction than the other sectors. Only every second company speaks of satisfied guests.
“The dissatisfaction with the transport providers is due to the uncertainties in the course of the introduction of the 9-euro ticket,” explained Woitendorf. “There was congestion, especially on the routes from the metropolises of Hamburg and Berlin to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which could not be cushioned in the short term.” A new edition would require a stronger consideration of tourist flows.
Rostock Transport Senator Matthäus is following the discussions about successor models with interest. It is important for him that public transport becomes more attractive. New connections, better clocks and a reliable offer are needed. “So far there has been no funding for this.”
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Transport Minister Reinhard Meyer sees the federal government as having a duty here. He spoke in favor of a nationwide valid public transport ticket. However, this depends heavily on the participation of the federal government.
