CDU conference will determine future of the Deutschlandticket

German Transport Minister Patrick Schneider (CDU) will hold a conference at the end of June for transport ministers to discuss the future of the Deutschlandticket.

Schneider wants Deutschlandticket to continue

Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schneider has announced that he will hold a conference at the end of June, during which German transport ministers will discuss how to continue the Deutschlandticket. 

“We have to consider if and how we can successfully [continue the ticket in the long-term],” Schneider told the dpa. “Because we want the ticket to be available beyond 2025.” Initially launched in May 2023 as the “49-euro ticket”, the pass allows holders unlimited access to public transport and regional trains across Germany. 

For much of 2024, a question mark hung over how the ticket would be funded in 2025; however, an amendment to the Regionalisation Act meant that unused 2024 funds were reallocated for 2025. In January, the cost of the ticket rose to 58 euros per month. Since then, various timelines for price increases have been proposed, but a concrete, long-term funding plan is still missing.

According to a paper written by the CDU/SPD’s Transport and Infrastructure, Construction and Housing Working Group, the ticket will continue to cost 58 euros per month until 2027. The black-red government’s coalition agreement went further, promising a price freeze at 58 euros per month until 2029, but didn’t outline a detailed funding plan.

Greens push for return to 49 euro ticket

As Schneider announces his conference, the Greens are pushing the government to take a different approach, focusing on making the ticket cheaper again rather than implementing staggered price rises.

Greens Minister Katharina Dröge says the ticket should once more cost 49 euros per month. “The Deutschlandticket was a promise of affordable mobility,” Dröge told the dpa, “At 58 euros per month, the current price is too expensive. The bus and the train have to be affordable”.