Saturday, April 29, 2023

Germany introduces the €45 nationwide travel ticket

DB, Deutsche Bahn, German Railway in conjunction with the German state is about to introduce a monthly nationwide cheap ticket on all state-run trains and buses.

From Monday, May 1 DB is introducing an all German rail ticket for €45. For that price you can travel across Germany in any and every direction.

The ticket can be used on all regional trains and all city trains, Underground networks and buses. It is not valid on the ICE rail network.

It will mean that regional trains will be extremely busy. And it’s best to buy the ticket on the DB website, which is fahrkarten.db.de, or simply db.de.

Is it the beginning of free transport? Already in Luxembourg all transport is free.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some years ago you wrote: Why not issue pensioners an annual card, which might cost €50 or €60 per year. Maybe a standard €10 for journeys over 160 km. But unlimited free travel might well be too generous right now. Someone has to pay for it and the PAYE taxpayer is paying enough. I well know we live in a State and are part of a society. We are not just an economy. But if the State and society is to flourish then we can't have crazy customs and odd practices.

Why are you so uncritical of the enormous waste of resources in Germany?

Michael Commane said...

Thank you for your comment and delighted you read the blog. A pity your comment is anonymous.
It’s 11 years since I wrote that blogpost.
The war in Ukraine has changed our attitude to the use of fossil fuels. Any country that attempts to reduce its consumption of fossil fuels is surely making it more difficult for Russia.
This summer France and Germany are offering 60,000 free rail journeys to young people. The hope is to wean them off the road and air and on to the railway.
And then there is the ever growing worry about climate change.

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