Could Germany's €49 transport ticket see 'massive' price hike this year?

Germany's €49 local public transport ticket has around 11 million subscribers and is considered a huge success.

But the financing of the travel pass, that allows holders to use local transport across Germany, is in danger, according to transport companies and regional politicians. 

The price of the ticket is meant to be frozen until the end of this year. But because the federal government has not yet released promised funds, state transport ministers are discussing whether the cost of the Deutschlandticket will need to go up by as much as €10 from October.

State ministers were set to meet for a special conference in Düsseldorf on Monday to discuss this aspect. 

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"I see a great danger that an unmanageable patchwork will soon emerge with areas where the Deutschlandticket can be continued and others where it must be cancelled for financial reasons," wrote the Chairman of the Conference of Transport Ministers, North Rhine-Westphalia state minister Oliver Krischer (Greens), in a recent letter to federal ministers.

"To prevent this, the only option would be to massively increase the price of the Deutschlandticket in the very short term."

The federal and state governments each subsidise the offer with €1.5 billion per year. This is intended to cushion the impact of lower ticket revenues for transport firms.

The federal government had also vowed to transfer unused funds from 2023 to 2024, however, this has not yet happened. Transport companies are now worried that they will end up having to bear the costs and that the Deutschlandticket may have to be axed.

State transport ministers say a price hike could come as early as October if the government doesn't transfer more cash.

A ministry spokesperson from Thuringia said: "If the federal government does not budge, a price increase will have to take effect from October 1st 2024."

"We have been waiting for over half a year for the Chancellor to keep his word and make the unused federal funds from 2023 available for 2024," said Bavaria's transport minister Christian Bernreiter, of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU's Bavarian sister party. 

If the law is not changed before the summer break, the Deutschlandticket will have to "become at least €10 more expensive this year", he added. 

Can the government guarantee the funding of the €49 ticket?

Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently tried to dampen these concerns. The SPD politician called the Deutschlandticket a huge achievement for Germany during a government questioning round in the Bundestag.

He assured that the government - as he had discussed with state premiers - would create the financial framework conditions to keep the ticket afloat, with an amendment to the Regionalisation Act set to be made.

Later on Monday a Transport Ministry spokesperson said this law amendment would be completed next week. 

But even if funding can be arranged for the current year, it remains to be seen whether the €1.5 billion boost from the federal and state governments will be sufficient in 2025.

The Association of German Transport Companies said it's concerned that the ticket - despite all the praise from politicians - is not secure in the long term.

"It is good that the conference of transport ministers on Monday can contribute to clarity by committing to the permanent establishment of the ticket," said VDV President Ingo Wortmann, adding that Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Transport Minister Volker Wissing have so far failed to do this.

Meanwhile, environmental protection organisation Greenpeace suggested taking money earmarked for building new Autobahns and ploughing it into local public transport instead to finance the ticket.

"The safest way to renovate crumbling bridges and finance the Deutschlandticket is to stop the construction of more motorways," said Greenpeace mobility expert Marion Tiemann. "Then all resources can be channelled into the renovation and there would still be enough money for a long-term Deutschlandticket."

Lower Saxony's transport minister Olaf Lies (SPD), however, believes that the price of the ticket will have to rise regardless.

"We know that personnel and energy costs will continue to rise in the coming years," he said. "We cannot completely decouple the ticket price from this. But we need a stable and secure price if we want to achieve the climate targets and offer a mobility service."

With reporting from DPA