When the 9-euro ticket went on sale, there was a rush to customer centers and ticket machines. There could be bottlenecks on popular local transport connections – only a few can apparently be remedied.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – Thuringia wants to try to increase the capacity of the trains when running on certain regional routes after the introduction of the 9-euro ticket. But there is no reserve fleet and therefore no more trains, said Transport Minister Susanna Karawanskij (left) on Tuesday in Erfurt. However, the capacity of the trains could be adjusted in an emergency on routes that are particularly popular. “Thuringia is taking its own money into its own hands.” The current figure is around one million euros, but it could also be 1.5 million euros, said the minister.
The managing director of the Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen, Christoph Heuing, did not rule out that, given the huge interest that was emerging in the cheap ticket and despite good preparation, there could also be frustration and disappointment among passengers.
As an example, he cited the regional express trains between Erfurt and Jena, which are already often full. But many trams are also well utilized in the morning and taking bicycles on some crowded means of transport could become a problem. More public transport options are needed. “Huge investments are required for a major turnaround in traffic. Only the federal government has the big leverage,” said Heuing.
More buses and trains would be needed, but also more staff. At the moment there are “almost no possibilities to create additional offers in the short term”.
Karawanskij expressed the fear that the federal funds would not be enough for the 9-euro ticket. However, the amount is capped, so the federal states and, in some cases, the transport companies would bear the financial risks. But she hopes for an impulse for more local public transport in the three months. In the future, however, guarantees would be needed – including for the accessibility of regions that were previously not well equipped.
The 9-euro ticket, for which advance sales started at the beginning of the week, will be introduced from June to August. The federal government bears the costs exclusively for fare losses by the transport provider. According to the Ministry of Transport, Thuringia will then receive around 33 million euros.
