Dhe Germany ticket valid from Monday for 49 euros will not be nearly as successful as the 9-euro ticket last summer, but the emerging sales figures are nevertheless impressive. According to a survey, more than every tenth adult in Germany has already purchased the Deutschlandticket.
Deutsche Bahn expects the ticket to attract six million new subscribers. In addition, there would be around eleven million people who already had a subscription and would now probably switch to the 49-euro ticket. Ultimately, every fifth German citizen would then use the new ticket.
The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) alone and its sales partners have sold more than 120,000 Germany tickets since sales began on April 3rd. According to RMV, a good half of these were purchased by people who were not regular customers before. More than 21,000 tickets went to employees who received the 49-euro ticket as a job ticket.
855 euros cheaper per year
A market survey conducted by the RMV showed that 24 percent of those who used it infrequently want to buy the Deutschlandticket, as well as 15 percent of those who have never used the bus or train at all. The degree of cost recovery of the RMV – so far more than 50 percent – could nevertheless decrease as a result of falling income.
In the opinion of Managing Director Ringat, sustainable financing of public transport and an improved offer are essential for the long-term success of the new offer. On the one hand, rail transport must be modernized and expanded, on the other hand, particularly in rural areas, even more customers could be won, for example, with the reactivation of closed routes and on-demand bus services.
With the Germany ticket, his party’s vision of a cheap citizen’s ticket for buses and trains will become a reality, said the parliamentary group leader of the Greens in the state parliament, Mathias Wagner. Commuters save a lot of money with the ticket in times of high inflation, and it becomes much more attractive for drivers to switch to local public transport. Anyone who regularly travels between Wiesbaden and Frankfurt with regional transport currently pays 1446 euros for their annual pass, which is paid for monthly. Switching to the Deutschlandticket would save 855 euros, which is about 60 percent of the travel costs. In addition, the new ticket is still valid throughout Germany.
49-euro ticket is not valid for long-distance traffic
The judgment of the AfD in the state parliament is rather critical. The 49-euro ticket simplifies the tariff structure and means savings for Hessian public transport commuters. What is given to citizens on the one hand through state subsidies is taken away from them as taxpayers on the other hand, said AfD MP Klaus Gagel. The missing fare income from this type of benefit was missing for investments.
The Deutschlandticket is valid from 1 May on local and regional transport throughout Germany. A separate ticket is still required for long-distance trains such as the ICE, EC or IC. The new monthly pass is also available in physical form as a chip card at Deutsche Bahn counters and RMV sales offices. The mobile phone ticket (e.g. via the RMVgo app) can be used for journeys immediately after purchase.
The advance sale, which began on April 1, was therefore particularly relevant for customers who prefer the Deutschlandticket on a chip card, because when ordering in a sales outlet, the order deadline is the 10th and for e-ticket purchases online (on rmv.de) up to the 20th of the month before the start of validity. The subscription concluded with the purchase can be canceled in writing or in the app by the 10th of the month at the end of the month and can then be resumed at any time.
In Hesse, there will be an additional discount for low earners from August. Persons who receive housing benefit, citizen benefit or social security benefit can then purchase the Deutschlandticket for only 31 euros. Students in Hesse will probably be able to offset a Deutschlandticket against the price of their previous semester ticket from the winter semester onwards. A state-wide regulation is made more difficult by the fact that up to now every college and university has independently negotiated the tariffs for their semester tickets. Depending on the requirements and conditions at the respective locations, these can be quite different.
The transport ministers of the federal states have agreed in principle that students only have to pay the difference between the price of their semester ticket and that of the Germany ticket. That would be around 25 euros per month on average nationwide.
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