Will it inspire wanderlust or cause frustration?

The nine-euro ticket that has been valid since yesterday is “a large-scale experiment with an open outcome,” writes a Handelsblatt reader. But he is already expecting “reports about horror trips in overcrowded, dirty and non-functioning trains”.

Like him, some Handelsblatt readers are still skeptical about how the transport companies will deal with the consequences of the nine-euro ticket. At the start of the special ticket, local transport companies and Deutsche Bahn sold almost seven million tickets.

One reader believes the companies “can’t handle the extra rush on the trains.” Instead of switching from the car to the bus and train, many passengers would come to the conclusion after the first trip: “I’d rather pay three euros for a liter of petrol than do such a journey again.”

Therefore, some would have wished for more preparation: “As good as the idea is, before you open the doors to the masses, you first have to create the capacities.” Even today, local transport trips are often very uncomfortable and, due to the lack of reservation options, not easy to plan , reports one reader.

But some readers also see the initiative as an opportunity. For example, one reader sees the special ticket as an “important step in the urgently needed turnaround in traffic”. One reader wants to use the nine-euro ticket as an attempt to switch from the car to the bus and train: “hoping the best, expecting the worst”.

Another reader has already planned weekend trips with his family, but he also believes that by the end of the summer the weaknesses of the German rail system will be very obvious. But if the players in politics and business drew the right conclusions from this, he thinks that the turning point in public transport might also work. The three months would also allow local transport companies to better assess the needs of their customers, believes another.

We have put together a selection for you from the various letters from the Handelsblatt readership.

Important step in the traffic turnaround

“For me, this is an important step in the urgently needed traffic turnaround. Less individual traffic, especially in urban areas. Unfortunately, the timing was unfortunate in view of the holiday months. It remains to be seen whether useful knowledge can be gained from this (for basic acceptance and feasibility under cost-benefit aspects).”
Heinz W. Bauer

I won’t do this to myself

“Since I only know people who, when they travel by train across Germany, experience a disaster such as no catering, hardly working toilets, trains cleared by the police and of course all trains are hours late, I will not do that to myself. “
Johanna M. Pabst

“Hoping the best, expecting the worst”

“Yes, I’m happy about the nine-euro ticket and … “hoping the best, expecting the worst”. Here in Berlin I’m used to traffic chaos in terms of public transport, so I mostly drive by car.

I am using this ticket as an attempt to transfer from car to bus and train. It’s just an attempt…”
Marisa Markus

create a new stage for frustration about misguided transport policy

“The nine-euro ticket is the first really recognizable approach to putting public transport in the spotlight and making it more attractive.

It was forgotten that the price alone does not solve the problems. On the contrary, the reduced prices generate high state costs and relentlessly and painfully reveal that public transport is not even remotely prepared, let alone equipped for broader use.

It is foreseeable: For many, the attempt will finally burst the dream of a car-poor mobility and basically only create a new stage for the frustration about misguided transport policy.
Fabian Meyerhöfer

Even now, local transport is uncomfortable

“As good as the idea is, before you open the doors to the masses, you first have to create the capacity.

My wife and I have been traveling with the Bahncard 100 since 2008, and even today, trips on local public transport are often very uncomfortable and not easy to plan due to the lack of reservation options. It should be obvious that this will not improve in the next three months.”
Ralph A Schmid

Plenty of entertaining stories to be expected

“Of course, the nine-euro ticket will not work smoothly. In these gloomy days, however, one can expect a wealth of stories from its introduction, which will certainly keep us entertained throughout the summer. And not just in the media.

We are already planning weekend trips with our family of five so that we can be a part of it ourselves. By the end of the summer, the weaknesses of the German rail system will be very apparent. If the players in politics and business draw the right conclusions from this, maybe it will also work in public transport with the turning point.”
Guido Lukoschek

A smack prank

“Why should we fear delays and overcrowding? We hardly know it any other way…

And to ‘squander’ the ticket in time for the holiday or tourist season (when urgently needed additional income for the transport companies could flow) is like a prank on the street after the pandemic and the fuel price increases. In percentage terms, only a few will change permanently.”
Alexandra C Dinkel

The route is the goal!

“I’m going to give it a try and I’m curious how it goes. First of all, you have to consider that it was only going moderately before. I am currently traveling by train and was already late from Oldenburg to Hamburg (I was still able to take the IC there). The IC didn’t even run, so I had to use regional transport anyway.

Now I can travel from Timmendorfer Strand to Lübeck and Gorleben and back to Oldenburg with the nine-euro ticket. And in the same month to Wangerooge. It’s worth it. In July I want to venture to Karlsruhe. And I’m sure I can think of more. The route is the goal!”
Michaela Dorr

A large-scale experiment with an open outcome

“The nine-euro ticket is a large-scale experiment with an open outcome. Here the bargain mentality of the Germans with government funding rages unchecked. On September 1st, the hangover will spread and the loud call for more billions in charity for all those in need with a monthly income of less than 4,000 euros will ring out. At the same time, social media will explode with reports of bad trips in crowded, filthy and dysfunctional lanes. Germany will once again be the world champion of the negative!”
Reiner Ruppman

Deduct nine euros from the salary for each grievance

“Nine euros is a good number! I think that for every delay, every failed toilet, every unmanned service point in trains, train restaurants and service points as well as every incorrect booking, nine euros should be deducted from the salaries of the railway board members, and this should continue until the situation has reached the level of such states have arrived, whose value system is well known to be far below ours.”
Claus Marx

people excluded

“Is that the first step in switching to bus and train for everyone? It would be nice if that were the case, but if the first step already excludes people, then this cannot be the path for everyone.

Homeless people do not have access to this ticket because they usually have neither an ID card, severely disabled ID card (can only be obtained with an ID card) nor a health insurance card. Even the offer of a foundation (Franziskustreff in Ffm) to assume responsibility for issuing the tickets is rejected for bureaucratic reasons.

What good is social change if we don’t take everyone with us? I think that speaks volumes and shows for whom politics is being made and money is being spent… It doesn’t encourage people to follow this path…”
Sandra Black

The nine-euro ticket is a fiasco

“Especially in the local trains of the DB AG, the nine-euro ticket will be a fiasco.

The company is in such a bad position and will not be able to handle the additional rush on the trains.
After the first trip, many passengers will come to the following conclusion: ‘I’d rather pay three euros for a liter of petrol than do such a journey again.’

It is to be feared that the new Corona variant BA.5 will spread wonderfully in the overcrowded trains.”
Udo Kautner

litmus test

“All those responsible for public transport should see the ‘three months’ as a ‘gift’ and use this ‘litmus test’ to be able to better present the future needs of customers (commuters, individual travellers, etc.).

Because one aspect of climate neutrality is: public transport as a supplement/replacement to private transport.”
Rainer Hering

The nine-euro ticket would be worth it tomorrow

“I can hardly walk, I need an electric wheelchair when I go out. The nine-euro ticket would be worth it tomorrow because I have to go to Frankfurt am Main.

Although I like to travel by train, I will use the car on the first day of this ticket: I’m afraid of overcrowded vehicles that can no longer take wheelchair users.”
Franz A Roski

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