Federal government leaves states hanging with the Deutschlandticket
Ahead of the meeting between Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the state premiers on Monday, government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit emphasized that the federal government does not want to provide any additional money for the Deutschlandticket. He referred to the "budgetary conditions" under which the federal government is operating. The issue is the financing of the expected additional costs of the ticket in the coming year.
The federal and state governments have each pledged 1.5 billion euros a year for the ticket until 2025 and have agreed to share any additional costs incurred this year. They have been arguing for months about who will bear the expected additional costs from 2024. The federal states do not want to bear more than half of these costs. Government spokesperson Hebestreit said that he understood the position of the federal states. However, the federal government had agreed "once" to share the additional costs "that may come". He emphasized that this was a "one-off birth aid".
SPD transport politicians warned that the ticket would fail. Der Spiegel" quoted from a two-page paper in which they called for an "urgently needed" decision to finance half of the additional costs from the federal and state governments. The Minister Presidents' Conference on Monday is "the latest possible time for this". According to Der Spiegel, the signatories include Lower Saxony's Economics and Transport Minister Olaf Lies, his Saxon colleague Martin Dulig as well as the deputy leader of the Bundestag parliamentary group Detlef Müller and transport policy spokesperson Isabel Cademartori. They put the cost of the ticket at 4.1 billion euros for 2024 and 4.6 billion euros for 2025.
Consumer advice center is outraged
If the financial framework is not extended and the transfer of the remaining funds from 2023 is not even approved, the ticket price will have to rise to 64 euros on May 1, 2024, the Social Democrats warned in the letter, according to Der Spiegel. This would make the ticket less attractive and threaten to miss out on its potential of 13 million customers.
The introductory price of 49 euros is already the pain threshold for many, said Ramona Pop, head of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations. In particular, people who are supposed to switch from cars to buses and trains cannot be convinced by a higher price.
"Instead of discussing price increases, the Federal Chancellor and the Minister Presidents should make the Deutschlandticket more consumer-friendly and reliable," demanded Pop. This includes price predictability, but also a nationwide social ticket and uniform solutions for students and families. She proposed a round table on the Deutschlandticket with the participation of consumer and passenger associations. The Deutschlandticket has been valid since May and entitles holders to travel on local and regional public transport throughout Germany for 49 euros per month.
The SPD, along with lower Saxony's Economics and Transport Minister Olaf Lies and other transport politics, have urged the Federal Government to share half of the expected additional costs for the Deutschlandticket from 2024, as the current budgetary conditions may make the ticket less attractive and miss out on its potential of 13 million customers. German Railways, along with consumer centers, have expressed concerns over the potential price increase of the ticket, which might make it less appealing to consumers who are supposed to switch from cars to public transport.
Source: www.ntv.de
