Successor to the 9-euro ticket: 69 euros – or how much can it cost?

The traffic light government celebrates the 9-euro ticket as a complete success and wants a successor. But what should it look like? The Ministry of Transport reacted rather cautiously to the transport company’s proposal for a 69-euro ticket.

The Federal Ministry of Transport reacted cautiously to the proposal for a nationwide 69-euro ticket following the current 9-euro ticket. The ministry announced that there was a fixed procedure for advising on the future and financing of local transport.

The 9-euro ticket and its effects must be analyzed more closely and the question of what the ticket’s greatest incentive is must be investigated. With more than 31 million sales, it is already a huge success.

Two billion additional costs per year

The Association of Transport Companies (VDV) had suggested offering a ticket for 69 euros per month as a connection from September. Like the 9-euro ticket, it should be valid throughout Germany on all regional trains, underground and suburban trains, trams and buses.

The sales figures for the 9-euro ticket and other findings already paint a clear picture of the possibilities and limits of a connection solution that is valid nationwide, said VDV General Manager Oliver Wolff. “This must be valid nationwide, have a relieving effect – and must not compete with the expansion of public transport.”

It is clear that a ticket for nine euros cannot be financed for more than three months. However, the industry will be able to offer such a climate ticket for 69 euros from September. The annual additional costs would be around two billion euros. For this year, these costs could still be financed through the rescue package for transport companies negotiated with politicians. “A new regulation is needed for the new year,” says Wolff.

Lang: “It needs a follow-up regulation”

Demands for a follow-up offer for the 9-euro ticket have also come from the ranks of the SPD and the Greens. Green Party leader Ricarda Lang signaled support for the proposed 69-euro ticket: “We will discuss the model in the coalition, but one thing is clear: a follow-up regulation is needed that, as proposed by the Federal Minister of Transport, applies as uniformly as possible throughout Germany and is cheap at the same time , so also socially,” she told the “FAZ”.

However, the government is faced with the task of having to achieve two goals at the same time. “We want a cheap ticket and at the same time improve the quality of the offer, which means investing in the infrastructure.”

Müller: “It must be worth leaving the car behind”

In an interview with the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”, SPD parliamentary group leader Detlef Müller also pleaded for a successor plan. “Whether a connection ticket then costs 39, 49 or 69 euros is secondary,” he said. “But it has to be in a context that has a psychological effect and is worthwhile for people to leave their cars at home.”

Müller suggested developing a proposal for a continuation of the ticket and its financing by the transport ministers’ conference in the fall. “I think it would be good if the federal and state governments could agree on a permanent model in which the states participate in a similar way to the Corona rescue package.” The question of financing is more important than the question of when a new offer will start. “Because it is clear that an inexpensive ticket offer cannot be financed at the expense of the expansion and operation of public transport.”

The left and Greenpeace are demanding a lower price

Left MP Bernd Riexinger wrote on Twitter that a 69-euro ticket was too expensive.

The environmental organization Greenpeace also described the transport company’s proposal as too expensive. “It is good news that the VDV is also in favor of a permanent successor to the 9-euro ticket, but the proposed price is far too high,” emphasized Greenpeace traffic expert Marissa Reiserer.

“For a climate ticket to really relieve households and at the same time offer an economically attractive alternative to owning a car, it must not cost more than one euro per day.” In view of the ancillary costs that are threateningly increasing for many households, such a ticket must be issued immediately so that it is still available in the autumn, said Reiserer.