Weil: Agreement on financing the Deutschlandticket
Lower Saxony's Minister President Stephan Weil is optimistic that the federal and state governments will reach an agreement on the further financing of the Deutschlandticket.
"We should be able to reach an agreement for 2024. It would be enough to transfer the remaining funds into the next year," said the SPD politician when asked by the German Press Agency in Hanover. The question of funding is to be discussed at the Minister Presidents' Conference (MPK) on Monday between the 16 heads of government of the federal states and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
The Association of Transport Companies had presented a financial forecast. According to this, the losses for the industry this year are likely to be 2.3 billion euros due to the introduction of the ticket in May, and 4.1 billion euros for the whole of 2024. With a total of six billion euros in public subsidies for 2023 and 2024, this would result in a funding gap of 400 million euros.
For the years from 2025, Weil expects a signal that the federal and state governments will continue to share the additional costs of the Deutschlandticket equally.
The 49-euro ticket has been available in Germany since May. It allows customers to use local and regional transport throughout the country on a subscription model. While the basic funding between the federal and state governments has been agreed for the coming years, the dispute is primarily about the additional costs incurred by the transport companies. This year, the federal and state governments have each covered half of these costs. No agreement has yet been reached for next year.
- Despite the financial forecast suggesting a funding gap of 400 million euros for the transport companies due to the Deutschlandticket, Stephan Weil remains hopeful that the federal and state governments will agree to cover these additional costs equally from 2025.
- The introduction of the 49-euro Germany ticket in May has resulted in estimated losses of 2.3 billion euros for the transport industry in 2022, contributing to a projected total of 6 billion euros in public subsidies for 2023 and 2024.
- Traffic congestion and railroad usage might see an increase as consumers continue to take advantage of the affordable Germany ticket prices, leading to concerns about potential financing issues from the Association of Transport Companies.
Source: www.dpa.com
