[ad_1]
The German government has decided to finance the federal states with €1.5 billion annually from this year for the national €49 ticket, which is expected to be introduced on May 1.
At the end of 2022, the German authorities agreed to introduce a digital ticket valid nationwide for public transport at an introductory price of €49 per month through a cancellable subscription. However, since the federal states said that they would see significant losses, the government has decided to allocate €1.5 billion every year until 2025, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“The implementation of the Deutschlandticket is the responsibility of the federal states. In order to support them in this, the federal government has promised the federal states 1.5 billion euros annually to compensate for losses from 2023 – the federal states have agreed to contribute the same amount,” the statement of the German government reads.
According to the government, the total allocated amount to federal states will be €4.5 billion for the three years and the same noted that additional costs suffered due to reduced income will have to be borne equally by the federal states’ governments.
Germany’s €49 ticket is the successor of the €9 ticket, and its aim is to make public transport more attractive and provide financial relief to citizens of the country in view of the sharp rise in prices.
Once the ticket gets introduced, it will cost €49 per month, but each federal state will be free to offer further discounts at their own expense. In addition, it has been noted that this is an introductory price meaning that the price might increase in the future.
The €49 ticket will be valid nationwide and will allow country-wide journeys in public as well as regional rail transport from all participating companies. This means that travellers can use all buses and trains of public regional and local transport throughout the country.
As for long-distance transport and first-class journeys, it has been stressed that they are excluded from the offer.
The country has already agreed to offer the ticket digitally – via an app or a chip card. Transport companies that are unable to provide the ticket in a digital form once it gets officially introduced will have the option to temporarily issue the ticket in a physical format containing a QR code.
However, this will be possible only until December 31, 2023, as after this date, every company must issue digital tickets, as this is seen as an important step for the further digitisation of the transport sector.
[ad_2]
Source link