German state and federal government leaders clear way for 49-euro public transport ticket
Clean Energy Wire
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the leaders of German state governments have agreed to each shoulder half of the costs for a nationwide 49-euro-per-month local public transport ticket next year, thus clearing a final hurdle to the project. After an initial agreement by transport ministers in October left the crucial financing question open, the heads of government now said they aimed to implement the ticket “as soon as possible” in 2023. “Any additional costs incurred by the companies in the year of introduction due to reduced revenues will be borne equally by the federal government and the states,” the agreement said. However, there was no agreement on how to continue splitting the costs of the programme in subsequent years. Scholz did not say when the ticket could be introduced. Lower Saxony state premier Stephan Weil said the target was to do so “by the end of the first quarter, but in no case much deeper into the year.”
The 49-euro ticket would be valid on regional and local trains and buses nationwide. The proposal came after the success of the nine-euro public transport ticket, which was introduced in an effort to offset rising fuel costs. Valid between June and August 2022, around 52 million tickets were sold.
