A working group is to work on a new local transport ticket that is valid throughout Germany.
(Photo: IMAGO/Sabine Gudath)
Berlin The federal and state governments want to find a solution by mid-October as to whether and in what form there can be a nationwide public transport ticket after the nine-euro ticket. The Handelsblatt learned this from government circles.
In order to find a successor solution for a “Germany ticket” (working title), the federal and state governments want to decide at the conference of transport ministers this Monday to set up a working group, probably at state secretary level. These should create model calculations and thus determine a possible tariff, as it was said. At the next regular conference of transport ministers, on October 12th and 13th, the working group should then submit a joint proposal. However, industry experts doubt that the ticket will then be offered on January 1, 2023, as hoped by Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP).
In any case, the plan is not yet decided. Minister Wissing only agreed to provide 1.5 billion euros for a successor solution in the coming year – if the federal states contribute at least the same amount. However, a number of states are not willing to do this, such as large-area states such as Brandenburg, where there is often no local transport in some regions.
“The unique opportunity to make environmentally friendly local transport even more attractive with the Deutschlandticket must not be wasted,” warned the federal government’s railway commissioner, Michael Theurer (FDP). “Although not responsible, the federal government makes the offer to the states to co-finance the introduction of a Germany ticket with 1.5 billion euros annually. It is to be hoped that the federal states, which are responsible for local public transport under the Basic Law, will examine this offer impartially and make constructive financing proposals of their own,” Theurer told the Handelsblatt. He pointed out that the federal government’s offer was being made “at a very difficult time and despite the federal government’s many other commitments”.
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According to the Basic Law, the states are “entitled to an amount from federal tax revenue” to organize local transport. Among other things, they are responsible for developing tariffs and tendering local transport services.
No agreement without money
The federal states have been demanding more money for local transport for a long time, referring to the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP in the federal government. After that, the federal government wants to increase the funds for local transport in the next few years. The so-called regionalization funds are currently around ten billion euros. The federal budget draft for 2023, on the other hand, does not provide for the required increase in funds.
This has already caused a lot of frustration among the federal states. At previous transport minister conferences, the federal states had already demanded 1.65 billion euros more for 2022 and 2023 alone. They now want to renew this demand at the conference on Monday – and make it a condition for further talks about a new Germany-wide ticket. Minister Wissing will attend the conference.
The countries are demanding the money to compensate for the increased energy, construction and personnel costs in local transport and to modernize their local transport. Since the local municipal utilities are under massive pressure in view of the electricity and gas prices, they fail to finance local transport. Some transport companies and associations have already announced that they will raise ticket prices and, if necessary, also offer fewer bus and train services.
Deutsche Bahn AG has already announced that it will increase prices in the coming year. She alone expects higher electricity costs of two billion euros.
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