Wissing stays tough
With a 9-euro ticket, there is a risk of a country blockade
April 25, 2022, 9:40 p.m
The path to the Germany-wide 9-euro ticket is extremely difficult. The 2.5 billion from the federal government are too tight for the states. Transport Minister Wissing rejects the complaints and warns of failure in the Bundesrat.
From June, a cheap ticket for local and regional transport should be valid nationwide for three months – but the federal and state governments are arguing about a financial package. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing rejected criticism from the federal states, among others, of the federal financial plans. The FDP politician made it clear on the TV station Welt that the federal states also benefited from the relief in energy costs in local transport, i.e. the abolition of the EEG levy on the electricity bill and the planned temporary reduction in the energy tax on fuels.
Wissing said there was no reason to let the cheap ticket fail in the Bundesrat. As promised, the federal government will assume the costs of 2.5 billion euros and a proportion of the loss of income due to the pandemic. The countries should even keep the 9 euros per ticket that they take. This would allow them to pay the administrative costs.
According to a draft from the Ministry of Transport, the federal government wants to increase funds for the federal states to finance local transport by 3.7 billion euros this year. In addition to corona-related failures, the costs for the 9-euro monthly ticket in the amount of 2.5 billion euros are to be paid – from June to the end of August, passengers should be able to travel nationwide in local and regional transport for 9 euros per month.
Federal Council must agree
The financial plans are to be decided by the cabinet on Wednesday via an amendment to the regionalization law. In addition to the Bundestag, the Bundesrat must also agree. However, the federal government has not yet taken into account other financial demands from the federal states. The federal states want an additional sum of 1.5 billion euros from the federal government in order to be able to compensate for increased energy prices for transport companies. In addition, Wissing referred to other relief in energy prices.
Some countries had voiced massive criticism of Wissing’s plans. Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter said the federal government was trying to offload costs to the states, municipalities and transport companies. “If, as expected, many people want to use the ticket and additional trains and buses have to be provided for this, the federal government does not want to raise the money for it.” The federal government must improve.
The German Association of Cities also sees a billion-euro funding gap for local public transport. Chief Executive Helmut Dedy said the sum of 3.7 billion euros sounds like a lot of money. However, it is not enough to compensate for the reduced ticket and to resolve the existing burden on local public transport. According to calculations by the City Day, around 1.7 billion euros were missing.
Wissing leaves the organization to the states
Regarding concerns about overcrowded trains due to the cheap ticket, Wissing said that the federal states wanted the ticket to be valid throughout Germany – and not just within the transport associations. He assumes that the federal states will organize it in such a way that a Germany-wide regulation will lead to “smooth traffic”.
Wissing said in general about the demands of the federal states for more money for local public transport (ÖPNV), it is first about improving the structures and becoming more modern and efficient. Then there is the question of financing.