From the DW:
“Germany's 'Deutschlandticket'
price rises again”
Transportation ministers of
Germany's 16 federal states said on Thursday that the cost of the popular
monthly public transit ticket, known as Deutschlandticket, would be raised to
€63 ($74) starting in January 2026. The rise in price for the monthly
subscription was agreed to after a special meeting of the regional leaders. The
southern state of Bavaria's Transportation Minister, Christian Bernreiter of
the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CSU), said after the special
meeting that the decision had been unanimous.
The Deutschlandticket costs €58 a
month and allows subscribers unlimited rides on local and regional buses and
trains accross the country. The ticket excludes the long-distance high speed
ICE trains that connect German cities. Southwestern
Baden-Württemberg state's Transport Minister, Winfried Hermann of the
environemntalist Greens, welcomed what he called a compromise on the fate of
the program. "We had hoped for more
funding from the federal government in order to keep the price lower,” he
added, while still stressing that compared to most monthly passes, the
Deutschlandticket can still be considered affordable.
According to the agreement, the
federal and state governments will continue to contribute €1.5 billion per year
each to finance the Deutschlandticket until 2030. But despite the certainty on
the program's continuation, the mobility and environmental association VCD
rejected the decision to raise the price, saying it could lead to widespread
customer cancellations. "The Deutschlandticket is becoming more expensive
once again and once again being used as a political football,” VCD chief
Kerstin Haarmann said in a statement. "Yet it remains a central component
of the transport revolution. Constantly tweaking the price is undermining the
trust of millions of passengers,” she added. The organization noted that the
price of the ticket is on its second hike. It had already been increased from
€49 to €58 at the beginning of 2025, which prompted a million customers,
especially younger people, to cancel their subscriptions.
https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-deutschlandticket-price-rises-again/a-74052095
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