The German summer of near-free rail travel is almost coming to an end

The German summer of near-free rail travel is almost coming to an end

travel

3 minutes

18.08.2022

There are calls for the government to extend the €9 monthly ticket that allows you to travel anywhere on local trains, trams and buses.

Germany’s three-month experiment with ultra-cheap public transport has left many consumers wanting more.

A monthly ticket of €9 allows you to travel anywhere in the region on trains, trams and buses. This is an effort to help with the cost of living crisis and reduce car use amid skyrocketing energy prices.

Rail trips over 30 kilometers increased by 42% compared to 2019, proving to be very popular. Rail travel to Germany’s rural tourist destinations has nearly doubled.

The discount tickets expire at the end of August, and some politicians want some form of extension. Nearly 80% of respondents backed the idea in his Kantar poll last month.

But the man in charge of the country’s finances is reluctant. Christian Lindner sparked an uproar on Twitter last week, criticizing the public’s “gift mindset,” arguing that such subsidies cannot be sustainably funded in the long term. The Moon proposal cost the government about 2.5 billion euros.

But it helped keep inflation down. The German Institute for Economic Research in Cologne estimates headline price growth would have been around 2% higher in June if government-controlled costs had reflected overall price increases more closely. The provision of public transportation has greatly reduced such costs.

“There has clearly been a disinflationary effect. But if it’s about easing the inflationary burden on low-income households, it’s worth questioning whether that money can’t be spent more effectively.” Politicians will have to decide whether the tool pursues climate policy or combats inflation.”

More recently, there has also been a heated debate about its impact on travel habits. He pointed to the argument that it has largely led to an increase in leisure travel. This suggests that the transport system faced greater pressure as a result of discounting.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner has so far resisted calls to extend the offer until the fall.

Kay Nietfeld/dpa

A study in Munich found that only 3% of people in the city used their cars less after the ticket was introduced, while more than a third said they used public transport more. However, the researchers noted that 22% took a train or bus for the first time, which may encourage more of these options in the future.

Proponents of the measure argue that the increase in leisure travel is a clear result of the summer timing.

Lindner’s Green and Social Democratic coalition partners are pushing to introduce a successor to the ticket after the end of August.

One of the main reasons for extending the proposal in some way is that, like many countries, Germany has yet to face the worst of a sharp rise in inflation. As winter approaches, people will pay more to heat their homes, and further cuts in Russia’s gas supply could push up domestic energy costs even further.

German Transport Minister Volker Wissing, a member of Lindner’s FDP, also wants the measure extended.

“With this ticket, we’ve been able to increase our ridership by 20% without changing anything in our service,” he said in Goslar on Thursday. We must change, not only in terms of regulation, but also in terms of our actual thinking, and in having the courage to initiate the disruptive change process.”

Governments have two main options. Either extend the ticket as is or wait for the modified version. Because the shipping company is too late to issue a replacement pass for his September.

But Lindner supports policies that directly increase disposable income, such as adjusting taxes to account for inflation. In a country where he only one-third of the population regularly takes buses and trains, this could provide broader relief.

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