Comment – Compulsory subscription, ICE and country chaos – the Germany ticket is so immature

It could have been so beautiful. The successor to the 9-euro ticket is here, finally. It is called “Deutschlandticket” and costs 49 euros. Consumers can use buses and trains in local and regional transport.

The nationwide valid ticket is undoubtedly a success. A ticket like this would have been unimaginable two years ago. And the previous figures also suggest that the ticket is well received by the population.

Since advance sales started on April 25th According to the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), 750,000 people secured their tickets. In the medium term, the VDV expects five to six million new customers.

That all sounds good. But a closer look at the Deutschlandticket shows how immature and consumer-unfriendly the offer is in its current form.

The Germany ticket is particularly problematic for poorer people

It starts with the fact that the ticket is only available as a subscription. If you want to use the Deutschlandticket, you can pay for the ticket either monthly or annually. The ticket can be canceled on the 10th of each month.

That should put a lot of people off. Once forgot to cancel the ticket when a holiday is coming up, and consumers pay for a month’s bus and train free. In addition, the subscription model is particularly problematic for low-income households.

They often struggle financially from month to month. In everyday stress, notice periods are quickly forgotten. 49 euros is a lot of money, especially when you have to turn over every cent three times anyway.

Researchers from the Transport and Space Institute at the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences interviewed people with below-average incomes. It turned out that only ten percent of the study participants were willing or even able to pay 49 euros for the Deutschlandticket. For low-income families, 49 euros are often simply too expensive.

Some transport companies collect Schufa income

Of course there could be discounts for poorer people, students or trainees. At the moment, however, there is no national regulation. Just like with other Deutschlandticket aspects.

An example: In Hesse, bicycles and dogs are included in the Germany ticket. In Saxony, on the other hand, consumers have to pay an extra ten euros if they want to take their dog with them. So what happens if someone takes public transport from Wiesbaden to Leipzig? Does he need an additional ticket halfway?

Also interesting: Some transport companies collect Schufa income before consumers can buy the Germany ticket. In most cases, the booking is only possible by direct debit. This emerges from reports from “WDR” and “Zeit online”.

So it may be that some people cannot use the offer because their credit rating is too bad. This is about local public transport and thus also about our climate goals.

Problems with long-distance connections

This was emphasized by Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) a few days ago in a speech at Berlin Central Station. If debt prevents a person from being able to travel cheaply by bus or train to work, friends and family, then environmental protection is obviously not the top priority.

But the Deutschlandticket also has weaknesses when it comes to application. If you want to drive a route that includes regional and long-distance sections, you only have to buy the IC, EC or ICE ticket. That works in theory.

In practice, however, the purchased connection does not match the actual travel dates. And that’s how “time online” recently reported a problem. For example, if a Deutschlandticket holder books a trip from Munich to Würzburg and only takes the ICE from Nuremberg, a possible cancellation or delay of the regional train is not taken into account.

This is particularly problematic with economy prices. There is usually a train connection here. If the Deutschlandticket owner misses his saver fare ICE, he would have to buy a new ticket in Nuremberg. This is expensive – for tickets booked at short notice, the prices are often over 100 euros.

“I assume that we have to raise the price”

In addition, consumer advocates warn that Deutschlandticket holders will become second-class public transport users. You could be excluded from the so-called “IC or ICE” option.

This states that passengers with a pure local transport ticket ab may switch to long-distance traffic after a delay of 20 minutes. Although you have to advance the price of the ticket, you are entitled to a refund.

As if that weren’t all disappointing enough, it’s not even certain that the price of 49 euros will remain. The federal government spoke of an “introductory price” weeks ago.

And the President of the VDV, Ingo Wortmann, told the AFP news agency: “I assume that we will have to raise the price.” Because of inflation, but also increased personnel and material costs.

The Deutschlandticket is consumer-unfriendly

Federal Transport Minister Wissing declared that the Deutschlandticket put an end to “complicated and exhausting”. There can be no talk of that at the moment. Not only do consumers have to take out a subscription, which was not necessary with other public transport tickets.

The Germany ticket is particularly problematic for poorer people. Because of the subscription, but also because 49 euros are still too expensive for low-income households. And what about our climate targets?

A ticket that is so consumer-unfriendly is unsuitable for turning drivers into public transport users. And it is unsuitable for helping the people who would need a cheap ticket the most.