Germans say goodbye to summer of €9 travel tickets

[bill937ca]

For three sunny months, passengers have packed on to platforms and concourses to take advantage of a single monthly ticket costing €9 (£7.50; $9).

 

In all, 52 million of the tickets, which allowed them to use any regional or local public transport an unlimited number of times, have been sold.

 

But the offer ends at midnight on Wednesday, to the dismay of many.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62736375

 

News item of June 1, 2022.

 

 

[lighthouse]

The €9 ticket was certainly a good idea for commuters and city dwellers. I wanted to use the ticket in the countryside as well, but it didn't work due to the lack of offers, significantly longer travel times and the distances between the stops. For comparison... by car it only takes me 25-30 minutes from the front door to the entrance to my workplace. It would be 1.5 hours by bus and 2.5 hours by train. Incidentally, the 9€ ticket also had to be financed with 2.5 billion euros... The fuel discount for drivers, which was introduced alongside the 9€ ticket for 3 months, was noticeable from the end of June to the beginning of August... before and after there really wasn't any relief.

But I can't remember if there was anything comparable to the €9 ticket on Deutsche Bahn in the past. Day or weekend tickets have been familiar and often used to me since the late 90's...

[Socimi]

Proud to have done my part!

 

 

Altough i used it for a little less than two weeks it was exceptionally handy, not only to travel on Deutusche Bahn and other mainline railways, but also to freely ride various U-Bahn and Stadtbahn networks as well!

Of course, many nefarious things have been said (and written) about the 9-euro ticket. The chaos, the mess, the overcrowding, the "Sylt Incident", the fact that it has been percieved by some as an "unjust subsidy" for pubblic transport users (depsite car travel being in reality much more subsidized) and so on.

Unfortunately this will almost certainly be a one-time-thing, as many companies have stated they will not partake in a similar scheme ever again.

However, depsite all the criticisms, i still strongly feel the 9-euro ticket (or atleast it's overall concept) was a good idea, and i'm proud to have purchased and used one!

[Sir Madog]

The aim of the 9-Euro ticket was to lure motorists away from using their cars, an aim which was not met to the extent the government had hoped for. It did, instead, generate an enormous amount of additional and maybe unnecessary traffic, deterring regular riders, aome of them for good. Overall, it was not a good idea, given the wear and tear and damage done.

[roadstar_na6]

While the 9€ certainly was helpful in some regards it came at an imensely wrong time considering every railroad company in Germany is understaffed and the rolling stock wasn't really there to compensate the massive rise in passengers.

There was a shitload of people on trains I rode that complained about it and that they'll never ride the train ever again and just take the car because almost every single train has some 5-50 minutes delay.

tl;dr: good idea, wrong time, terrible execution

[disturbman]

I’ll miss it and I very much hope Berlin will bring it as the mayor is promising. I think it worked really well in the city, everyone I know wants it back.

 

I bought it every month and barely used it, but it was nice to not have to care about getting a ticket every time I hoped on a subway.

[bill937ca]

Come to think of it this is a much bigger discount than  the Euro a day that Vienna  is famous for.

[chadbag]

As long as we're clear that the ticket wasn't really 9 euro.  That is what the purchaser paid, but the real cost was pushed somewhere else and covered by someone else's budget (now or long term), and probably ultimately by a budget deficit or through taxes.   

 

I am not passing judgement on it pro or con.  Just making sure we understand that the costs of running it were still born by someone (or multiple someones)

 

[bill937ca]

1 hour ago, chadbag said:

As long as we're clear that the ticket wasn't really 9 euro.  That is what the purchaser paid, but the real cost was pushed somewhere else and covered by someone else's budget (now or long term), and probably ultimately by a budget deficit or through taxes.   

 

I am not passing judgement on it pro or con.  Just making sure we understand that the costs of running it were still born by someone (or multiple someones)

 

But that is not different than any other major means of transportation. Road users pay taxes but they never  cover the cost of roads. Public transport is subsidized. Airlines are subsidized.  Subsidies are a route to greater economic growth and prosperity. It would be pretty dull in a world where every one didn't buy car or take a train anywhere.

.

[chadbag]

13 minutes ago, bill937ca said:

But that is not different than any other major means of transportation. Road users pay taxes but they never  cover the cost of roads. Public transport is subsidized. Airlines are subsidized.  Subsidies are a route to greater economic growth and prosperity. It would be pretty dull in a world where every one didn't buy car or take a train anywhere.

.

 

I wasn't passing judgement.  Just pointing out the facts that the price is more than 9 euro -- only someone else is paying it, at least indirectly.

 

This was a change from the normal cost structure for rail travel -- not part of the long term plan (like normal subsidization).

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by chadbag