The 9-euro ticket triggered a huge demand. After a long back and forth, the successor solution is scheduled to start on May 1st. The public transport companies will provide information on when the 49-euro tickets will be available and what regular customers should be aware of. Some questions are open.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – Almost two months before the start of the nationwide local transport ticket, it is becoming concrete for many interested parties: A number of municipal local transport companies in North Rhine-Westphalia offer pre-ordering or pre-registration on the Internet or via app for the Deutschlandticket. Existing customers should receive information letters from their transport company, according to a survey by the German Press Agency. In addition, existing customers should weigh up the additional benefits of their existing subscriptions. There may also be differences in detail according to the current status.
No decisions have yet been made in North Rhine-Westphalia on possible special offers for the Deutschlandticket for certain groups of people such as trainees. “The relevant federal and state working groups on the Germany ticket are currently meeting and talks are also taking place in NRW on the further development of tickets for students, for trainees and also social tickets, which we already have today,” said a spokeswoman for the environmental and Ministry of Transport on Tuesday of the dpa. “We assume that we have clarified the open questions at the start of sales,” she added. According to the information, at least one thing is clear: animals, such as dogs, can also be taken with you free of charge with a Germany ticket.
The large transport associations in NRW made similar statements. According to a spokesman, they are in exchange with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for possible special offers for certain groups of people. “The actors are still in the process of being voted on. Nothing has been decided at the moment,” said the spokesman. All transport associations in NRW offer students exactly the product that the federal government has specified: the upgrade model. Here, students paid a surcharge to be able to use the semester ticket throughout Germany. For young people (pupils and trainees), the state of North Rhine-Westphalia would have to decide on a new concept. This has not yet happened. No special offer is planned for seniors in NRW.
“The early bird catches the Germany ticket!” is the title of the Aachener Verkehrsverbund (AVV) on the info page of its Naveo app and includes several animal figures. “If you have a subscription to the AVV, you can relax and count the spots on your fur and walk calmly. The responsible transport company will contact you as soon as you can switch your subscription to the Germany ticket,” it says. The Dortmund company DSW21 relies on portraits of people with big smiles. Among other things, it explains that nationwide sales are scheduled to start on April 3 and that the Deutschlandticket is not limited to a specific promotional period.
“We’ll make it easy for you to switch,” the Cologne Transport Authority (KVB) promises on their Deutschlandticket website. They show regulations and options in different categories. For the first time in May, a monthly upgrade to the semester ticket can be purchased in the KVB app. According to the KVB Internet overview, it should cost 15.28 euros per month and extend the semester ticket to include Germany-wide validity. At DSW21, students can upgrade their semester ticket from May for 12.33 euros, as it says there.
The local transport companies point out that the new Germany ticket does not allow you to take bicycles or other people with you, and it cannot be transferred to other people. For the Rhein-Ruhr transport association (VRR), however, a bicycle subscription for an additional 29 euros is planned from May, said the DSW21 spokesman. Transport associations and the Ministry of Transport point out that it is already possible to take bicycles with you by buying another ticket, as well as first-class travel on local trains.
In the first step, DSW21 wrote to 35,000 customers whose subscriptions will be automatically changed on May 1st. Alternatively, those addressed could stay with their previous ticket. To do so, they would have to fill out an enclosed reply card. Subscribers with a Schoko or MeinTicket (social ticket) would be informed later.
According to a spokesman, the KVB will automatically convert all customers with subscriptions if the monthly ticket prices are over 49 euros. “The customers have the opportunity to object and then keep their previous ticket,” he explained. It should be noted, for example, that seniors could share an Aktiv60Ticket and travel cheaper than if they bought two Germany tickets for 49 euros. Possibilities for people to take people with you should also be taken into account for existing subscriptions. In the case of job tickets and major customer tickets, the employers are contractual partners of the KVB and make a corresponding offer to their workforce if the employer wants to change.
DSW21 wants to write to all contractual partners in the job ticket segment. In this context, there is talk of lucrative conditions. “If an employer pays 25 percent of the ticket price, the federal and state governments grant an additional discount of 5 percent,” the DSW21 spokesman calculated. Working people could get the Deutschlandticket for as little as EUR 34.30 a month. The KVB explain similarly on their online site that employers will be offered the Germany ticket for employees instead of the previous job or major customer tickets for the price of 46.55 euros per month, provided that they pay at least 12 25 euros monthly involved.
All transport associations in North Rhine-Westphalia, from the AVV to the VRR and VRS to the Westphalia Tariff, also emphasized that existing customers have the choice of whether they want to switch from their existing subscription to the Deutschlandticket or continue to use their previous subscription including the associated additional benefits. According to the VRS alone, it has around 600,000 subscribers. According to nationwide agreements, the Germany ticket can be used from May 1, 2023. A spokeswoman for the Westphalia Tariff Association listed that ordering the Germany ticket via the apps or online order from the transport company or by order form – digital or printed in the customer centers – in detail is possible.
