Ticket for 49 euros in Germany. Problems have arisen
From yesterday in Germany you can use a ticket for 49 euros. The new offer aroused such great interest that the servers of the German Railways website were overloaded. In the long run, however, crowded trains should not be expected.
From May 1, you can use a monthly ticket in Germany for EUR 49 (almost PLN 225 at the current exchange rate). It entitles you to use regional and local transport (trains, subways, buses and trams) throughout Germany. The ticket (so-called Deutschland-Ticket or D-Ticket) – as the dw.com website reminds – came into force after long negotiations between the federal government and the governments of individual federal states.
Ticket for 49 euros. Overloaded servers
A ticket for €49 per month is available as a monthly subscription. It arouses great interest. On the first day of its validity, a message appeared on the website of the German railways Deutsche Bahn (DB) about the unavailability of the offer due to server overload.
Unlike many other monthly tickets, the D-Ticket is only valid for one person – the one who made the purchase. It cannot be transferred to another person or taken with other people (except for children under the age of six). The ticket price does not include the transport of bicycles or animals. However, there is an employee ticket option (if the employer pays at least 25 percent of the ticket price, the consumer only has to pay €34.30 or less – depending on the employer’s share).
There will be no crowd?
The Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) forecasts that more than three million people have already bought a ticket for 49 euros for May. According to the union, approx. 750,000 of these people had not previously used a monthly ticket for means of transport. The VDV predicts that 17 million people will buy a ticket in the future. This does not mean that you should expect crowded trains. Unlike the €9 ticket, which was valid for three months last year, the €49 ticket was introduced for longer.
The €49 ticket is funded by the federal and state governments who want to make public transport more affordable and encourage more people to switch from cars to buses and trains. However, German environmental organizations are skeptical about whether the new ticket will convince people to change. At the same time, they called for the expansion of public transport, emphasizing that the low purchase price is only one factor encouraging the use of public transport. Good connections and a dense communication network are also important.
