Germany extends €49 transport ticket until end of 2024

The €49 Deutschlandticket has been extended until the end of the year, after Germany’s 16 regional transport ministers agreed to keep it in circulation. The ticket allows passengers access to all local and regional public transport.

While there was some speculation that this subsidised programme would be scrapped, in late January 2024 it was instead voted on to continue. Oliver Krischer, Chairman of the Conference of Transport Ministers, identified the importance of securing this ticket as a permanent option, as it is “in the interest of commuters and transport companies” alike.

First introduced in May 2023, the ticket was brought in as a cancellable monthly subscription that allowed passengers to travel easily on local and regional transport.

Since then, over 11 million customers have purchased a subscription, with 8% of the users believed to be new to public transport use.

The Deutschlandticket is the successor to the previously introduced €9 ticket in 2022 that sought to alleviate the burden of transport costs for members of the public as they faced increased costs for electricity, food and heating. This bill lasted throughout the summer of 2022.

According to Germany’s Office for National Statistics, the €9 scheme avoided 1.8 million tons of CO₂ from trips that would have been taken in personal motorised vehicles. However, the strongest argument for the ticket has been the high rates of usage on the weekends, supporting the argument that the ticket is being used for leisure travel.

The Federal Minister, Volker Wissing, has praised the Deutschlandticket as “the greatest fares reform which has ever taken place in local passenger travel in Germany”. The ticket encourages people to use bus and rail transport more frequently, while also reducing their use of private vehicles and having a positive impact on the environment.

Article first published on CitiesToday on 29 January 2024.