The Ministry of Infrastructure has calculated that a Thuringian special ticket for young people would cost 30 million euros a year. Greens and SPD are not enthusiastic.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – The special ticket for young people proposed by Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) is causing controversy within the red-red-green government coalition. The Greens and SPD were critical on Thursday in Erfurt in view of the 49-euro ticket planned nationwide and the necessary investments in the transport infrastructure. They reacted to information from Infrastructure Minister Susanna Karawanskij (left), according to which the financing of a state-owned 28-euro ticket for young people was being examined.
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, the 49-euro ticket, which is to be financed equally by the federal and state governments, would cost Thuringia around 34 million euros a year. For a 28-euro ticket, the state of Thuringia would probably have to raise additional funds of 30 million euros from the state treasury.
The transport politician of the Greens parliamentary group, Laura Wahl, explained that for more passengers in local public transport (ÖPNV) not only cheap and simple tariffs are necessary, but the offer has to be better and denser. “As the Greens in the state parliament, we are surprised by Prime Minister Ramelow’s announcement that he wants to introduce an additional 28-euro ticket as a priority,” said Wahl. The Greens called for at least one euro to be invested in the expansion of bus and train services and in the local transport infrastructure for every euro in cheap fares.
Young people in rural areas have repeatedly made it clear that their problem is not the price, but above all that there are usually no buses at all at the weekend, according to the Green MP. Many government announcements such as a Jena railway junction or the reactivation of regional routes have practically not been implemented in recent years. The Greens proposed a bus-rail pact that should create a reliable and long-term financing perspective for public transport in Thuringia.
Rather, a rejection of a 28-euro ticket came from the SPD transport politician Lutz Liebscher: “We don’t need a debate now that would overload and delay the introduction of the 49-euro ticket in spring 2023.” Many questions about this would have to be clarified by the ministry with the transport companies and transport associations. At the same time, new buses and trains would have to be purchased, overhead lines, rails and infrastructure would have to be renewed. “A mobility ticket for young people would be the second step before the first,” explained Liebscher. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, it is being examined whether a 28-euro ticket can be made possible through a state subsidy for the nationwide 49-euro ticket.
