Germany yesterday launched a new flat-rate public transport ticket valid across the nation, but the price point of 49 euros (US$54) has raised doubts about the pass’ potential impact.
Touting the monthly pass as a “revolution,” policymakers hope it would bring some relief for consumers amid soaring inflation, and encourage people to favor mass transit in the name of the environment.
The “Deutschlandticket” offers unlimited access to Germany’s bus and metro systems, as well as local and regional trains — with only long-distance high-speed services not included.
Photo: AP / DPA
German Minister for Transport Volker Wissing was quick to call the new initiative “the biggest public transport reform in German history,” but the pass’ success is far from assured.
The association of German transport companies expects 16 million of the country’s 84 million inhabitants to take up the offer. About 750,000 tickets have been sold already, without counting people who will switch over from their current transport subscriptions.
How to finance the new policy was the subject of months of debate, delaying the roll-out of the ticket.
An agreement was reached between the federal government and Germany’s states, which will both contribute 1.5 billion euros toward the ticket’s financing to avoid adding to the national rail operator’s debt pile.
The expenditure has come in for heavy criticism from the opposition, who said the money could have been used to “improve and renovate rail infrastructure,” as Christian Democratic Union lawmaker Michael Donth said.
Germany’s rail network is indeed creaking, with investment needs totaling about 8.6 billion euros a year for the next 10 years, according to official estimates.
With services packed and facing regular technical problems, only 65.2 percent of long-distance trains arrived on time last year.
The issues on Germany’s rail system were put on full display last summer when the government first experimented with a heavily discounted flat-rate ticket. Between June and August, locals were able to travel the length and breadth of the country for just 9 euros a month.
Interest in the pass was understandably great, with 52 million people signing up for the offer. However, operators struggled to manage the stampede.
“The solution is certainly not reducing the cost of subscriptions,” said Christian Boettger, a rail expert from the Technical University Berlin.
Wissing has not ruled out an increase to the price of the new-model ticket in future to ensure it remains financially viable.
Similarly, getting people to abandon their cars to use public transport is often easier said than done.
Many commuters who live far from the city center do not have “rail infrastructure that could replace the car,” Boettger said.
According to the federal statistics agency Destatis, the introduction of the 9 euros offer saw road traffic “stagnate” compared with 2019, instead of rising.
Overall, road vehicles emitted 0.8 million additional tonnes of greenhouse gases last year, compared with the year before, the German Environment Agency said.
The 49-euro ticket will particularly benefit “urban residents who already have a more expensive subscription,” transport expert Oliver Wittig said.
Germany is not alone in its efforts to boost rail use in order to reduce emissions from transport.
In Spain, free passes for local and regional trains were launched in September last year to try and get residents to leave their cars at home and ease the pressure from inflation.
According to Spanish operator Renfe, 2.1 million tickets were handed out in the first quarter of this year.
In Austria, a “climate ticket” gives users the chance to use virtually all the alpine nation’s public transport network, including high-speed trains, for just more than 1,000 euros a year.
The success of the ticket has led to a “boom” in rail traffic, the Austrian operator OBB said.
However, not everyone is keen on the idea.
“It costs too much and there is very little switching from car to train travel,” French Transport Minister Clement Beaune told the National Assembly.
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
CONSPIRACIES: Kano suspended polio immunization in 2003 and 2004 following claims that polio vaccine was laced with substances that could render girls infertile Zuwaira Muhammad sat beside her emaciated 10-month-old twins on a clinic bed in northern Nigeria, caring for them as they battled malnutrition and malaria. She would have her babies vaccinated if they regain their strength, but for many in Kano — a hotbed of anti-vaccine sentiment — the choice is not an obvious one. The infants have been admitted to the 75-bed clinic in the Unguwa Uku neighbourhood, one of only two in the city of 4.5 million run by French aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Kano has the highest malaria burden in Nigeria, but the city has long
RSS