To protect the future of the Deutschlandticket, German state transport ministers are urgently appealing to the federal government to pass an amendment to the Regionalisation Act. The ticket allows passengers unlimited travel on regional and public transport for 49 euros per month.

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Transport ministers representing Germany's 16 federal states are calling on the federal government to urgently amend the Regionalisation Act, with Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg leading the push.

The Regionalisation Act amendment allowed leftover funds from 2023 to be used to finance the ticket until the end of 2024. This meant a price freeze was possible, the Deutschlandticket would cost 49 euros until the end of 2024 and a price rise to 58 euros per month was planned for 2025 and ensured until the beginning of 2026.

The coalition government agreed to amend the Regionalisation Act in July when federal states were scrambling to figure out how to fund the Deutschlandticket, but the amendment is yet to be officially signed off. 

Following the collapse of the coalition on November 5, Scholz's minority government is now heading for a no-confidence vote on December 16, with a possible snap general election already set for February 23, 2025. Faced with such a short window, and the fact that the 2025 budget is unlikely to be ready by the new year, time is tight to pass any laws still in limbo. 

Ministers now warn that unless the planned Regionalisation Act amendment becomes law imminently, the Deutschlandticket could face another price hike sooner than 2026. At the moment the federal government has made no official commitments to funding the ticket from 2026 onwards.

“I warn that the Deutschlandticket could become a victim of this uncertain transitional period in the federal government,” Transport Minister for Lower Saxony Olaf Lies (SPD) said. Lies’ counterpart in Baden-Württemberg Winfried Hermann (Greens) added, “It would be fatal if the price had to be increased again to save the ticket, just because a more general fight means laws pending approval haven’t been officially adopted.”

Söder: Federal government should fund Deutschlandticket alone

Regardless of the Regionalisation Act making it in time, Bavarian state premier Markus Söder believes the Deutschlandticket needs a complete overhaul.

Speaking at a press conference in Munich this week Söder said that if the ticket is to remain financially viable, the federal government alone should be financially responsible for funding. Currently, the ticket is funded by the federal government and Germany’s 16 state governments.

According to the state premier, running the ticket costs Bavaria around 300 million euros annually. The Regionalisation Act lays out that the federal government should provide another 350 million euros in funding, which will be issued to states depending on their size. Being the second largest state, Bavaria would receive 54 million euros.

“The federal government has to pay for [the Deutschlandticket] and when they don’t, then it has to be scrapped,” Söder told journalists. “[The ticket] requires a fundamental revision and restructuring,” said the minister. In lieu, Söder is floated that Bavaria introduce a 49-euro “Ferienticket” (holiday ticket) which is valid for one month per year.

The Deutschlandticket has been hugely popular since it first went on sale in April 2023, hitting 11 million sales just 100 days after launching, increasing passenger numbers on public transport by 16 percent and helping to sink Germany’s inflation rate.

In December 2023, the city of Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt was the first place in Germany to opt out of the ticket, but nowhere else followed suit. If Bavaria were to scrap the ticket, it would be the first Bundesland to do so.

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