On tracks
Article reserved for subscribers
The federal and state governments have agreed to introduce a monthly flat rate of 49 euros for access to all trains in Germany except the main lines.
Imagine the price of Navigo, the Ile-de-France transport ticket, which would drop from 75.20 euros to 49 euros per month. Also imagine that the fare zone is no longer limited to the Ile-de-France, but to the whole of France. Finally, imagine that with this ticket you get access to all TER in the country. A Paris-Le Mans, a Bordeaux-La Rochelle, a Marseille-Aix-en-Provence, with the Paris Navigo pass?
For the Germans it is now possible. After the success of the 9-euro monthly ticket tested this summer (approx. 52 million tickets sold in three months), the government of Olaf Scholz and the heads of the federal states managed to agree on a flat rate of 49 euros per Month. The subscription allows circulation from early 2023 (exact date to be confirmed) on all city and intercity networks in Germany, whether public or private. The ticket, available in digital form or in the form of a chip card, can be canceled at the end of each month.
The end of a tariff jungle
“This is the biggest reform in the history of public transport,” said Christian Lindner. The liberal-democratic finance minister has released 1.5 billion euros from the federal budget, just as much as the municipalities are financing the rest. The amount of compensation paid to transport companies is estimated at 3 billion euros per year.
“This is unique in Europe,” says Volker Wissing, Minister of the FDP