The Deutschlandticket has significantly increased the number of passengers on Deutsche Bahn’s local transport. The ticket resulted in a 16 percent increase in passengers, said DB Regional boss Evelyn Palla in Berlin. Around 60 percent of passengers travel with the monthly ticket for 49 euros, which is valid on local transport throughout Germany. However, this has practically no financial impact, said Palla. Many passengers exchanged the conventional tickets for the cheaper Germany ticket.
The federal and state governments compensate for losses in sales by the railways and other transport companies with around three billion euros per year. DB Regio is the largest local transport operator in Germany and has over two billion passengers every year on the red trains, S-Bahn trains and also on buses. Local transport in Germany is subsidized to the tune of more than ten billion euros annually in order to keep tickets affordable, especially for commuters. The federal states are tendering route networks for this purpose. The company that demands the lowest subsidies will be awarded the contract to operate for several years.
According to Palla, DB Regio won around 60 percent of the routes advertised last year. “We have thus succeeded in consolidating our market share.” In the past, DB Regio in Germany was an important source of profits for the group. Recently, the regional division, like practically the entire business in Germany, slipped into the red. According to Reuters information from corporate circles, the railway will make a loss of more than one billion euros in 2023.