Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing has said that the Bundestag will pay missing funds to state governments, meaning a hike in the cost of the Deutschlandticket can be avoided.

Wissing announces changes to Regionalisation Act for Deutschlandticket funding

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) announced to the dpa on July 8 that the federal government would step up funding for the Deutschlandticket for 2024.

The ticket, first launched in May 2023, offers holders unlimited access to public and regional transport across the whole of Germany for just 49 euros per month. 

The transport minister said that Berlin would this week amend the Regionalisation Act so that unused funds from 2023 could be used to finance the Deutschlandticket until the end of the year. This should mean that a 49-euro prize freeze for the Deutschlandticket, promised in January by the Minister for Transportation in North Rhine-Westphalia, Oliver Krischer (Greens), can be upheld.

Ministers meet in Düsseldorf to consider Deutschlandticket price hike

The news comes while transport ministers representing the 16 German federal states met in Düsseldorf to discuss whether a price hike to 59, 69 or 79 euros per month was necessary from autumn, so that the Deutschlandticket remained financially viable, without further funding at federal level.

When the Deutschlandticket was launched in 2023, there were still unresolved sticking points about how funding responsibilities would be shared between the state and federal governments. While the ticket proved a wild success after launching, with over 11 million monthly subscribers, a question mark remained over funding responsibilities.

While the federal government had long promised extra funding to the states to help keep the Deutschlandticket going, a cheque from Berlin hadn't materialised. The amendment to the Regionalisation Act planned for this week should set the cogs in motion.

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