Status: 10.11.2022 10:13 a.m
Pro Bahn is calling on the federal and state governments to fully cover the expenses of the transport companies for the Germany ticket. Otherwise, according to the passenger association, there will be consequences for local transport.
The federal and state governments should fully offset the expenses of the transport companies for the future Deutschlandticket, the Pro Bahn passenger association demands. The Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) had already asked for more money from the state yesterday. Loss of income and additional costs of the companies would have to be compensated “completely and permanently”, according to the VDV.
“It is questionable whether the three billion will be enough for the 49-euro ticket,” said Pro-Bahn spokesman Karl-Peter Naumann to the editorial network Germany. “In addition, money must be made available for the high energy costs, staff and the expansion of local transport,” he warned.
Otherwise there is a risk that transport connections will be canceled. “Then the shot backfires for the passenger,” warned Naumann. Local public transport in Germany is ordered from the operators by the federal states or municipal special-purpose associations.
Expansion of public transport required
In the discussion about the successor to the 9-euro ticket, Naumann criticized the focus: “Politicians have cornered the whole public transport system because it first focused on the ticket instead of on the expansion of local transport,” he said . “Politicians have taken the third step before the first.”
The federal and state governments had agreed last week to pay 1.5 billion euros each and to share the financing of the new ticket, in addition to an increase in the so-called regionalization funds with which the federal government co-finances public transport in the states.
increase in passenger numbers
According to current data, the 9-euro ticket, which was limited until the end of August, has caused a significant increase in the number of passengers on local trains. According to the Federal Statistical Office, eleven percent more passengers traveled in local transport in the third quarter than in the second quarter and 53 percent more than in the same quarter of the previous year.
In addition to the 9-euro ticket valid from June 1st to August 31st, the relaxation of the corona measures should also have contributed to the increases, explained the Wiesbaden authority. The growth in trams and urban railways – including elevated, underground and suspension railways – was significantly lower. There, the number of passengers increased by only three percent compared to the previous quarter and by 24 percent compared to the same period last year.
Data from transport companies that use automated passenger counting systems were evaluated. No information was given about the bus service. No valid statements are possible, since the degree of use of the automated passenger counting systems in buses is particularly uncertain, the authority explained.