Germany’s monthly public transport ticket gains 10 million subscribers

Over 10 million people have subscribed to the €49 monthly ticket for all regional public transport in Germany, including local buses, trams, and trains.

The government’s ticket offering has been off to a good start as it gained five million users right from the start, while another five million users switched to subsidised tickets from existing subscriptions.

As of May, the offering has given access to local and regional public transport at €49 a month, drawing attention as proponents believe it might encourage travellers to switch from private transport to public offerings, helping Germany to accelerate its transition towards a climate-friendly transport system.

The ticket is the successor to the “9-Euro-Ticket”, a subsidised monthly public transport ticket available at €9 a month. The offer was introduced in 2022 by the German government in response to the mounting cost of living but expired last August.

“[This] is a good first result,” said Ingo Wortmann, president of the Association of German Transport Companies, which announced the numbers on Wednesday. However, he pointed out that the ticket itself would not successfully convert Germans to public transport without expanding local transport links.

“We will continue to talk to the federal government and regional governments about improvements to the public transport offering … The expansion and modernisation of the system have to remain on top of the political agenda,” Wortmann demanded.

The Greens, part of the governing coalition, had pushed particularly hard for the ticket.

“This is one of my favourite legislative projects … because it helps people who depend on regional public transport, who are disproportionately from low and middle-income backgrounds. And on the other hand … buses and trains are a form of climate-friendly mobility. That’s what we’re promoting with the 49-Euro-Ticket,“ Katharina Dröge, chairwoman of the Greens in the Bundestag, said ahead of the ticket’s introduction.

Observers such as the Fahrgastverband Pro Bahn, a lobby organisation for public transport users, remain sceptical about the ticket’s efficacy and price point. The 49-Euro-Ticket is fundamentally different from the 9-Euro-Ticket, and the effect on traffic still remains to be seen, Pro Bahn’s chair Detlef Neuß told Tagesschau.

(Nick Alipour | EURACTIV.de)