State transport ministers mull flat-rate travel

German transport ministers from the various states and the federal government in Berlin were holding a special session on Monday to discuss increased government funding for local public transport and a possible long-term successor to this summer's so-called €9 ticket. 

From June to August, people in Germany could buy one ticket costing €9 (roughly $9) that was valid for one month on local trains and buses all around the country. High-speed, long-distance rail travel was not included. 

The scheme was very popular, but it was also only enabled thanks to taxpayer money. 

Following the positive public reception, federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing and his counterparts from each of Germany's 16 states are looking into a similar offer that might be sustainable over a longer period of time. 

They were also expected to discuss additional funding for inner-city local public transport, as existing systems struggle to manage rising energy and fuel costs. 

Ballpark target of €49 to €69 per month? Who will pay? 

Ahead of the meeting, Wissing voiced optimism that a deal could be reached with his state colleagues. 

The Free Democrat (FDP) politician said that he was "happy that we can, and also want to, find a successor solution for the [€9] ticket." 

Maike Schaefer from Bremen, who chairs the group of transport ministers, said early in Monday's talks that every state had indicated a willingness to contribute funds to such a nationwide scheme. She said the next step would be to set up a working group to accelerate talks.

Wissing, meanwhile, welcomed the states' willingness in theory, and said that he hoped outlines for a scheme could be ready in time for in-person transport minister talks next month, on October 12 and 13.

The government in Berlin said before the talks that it was willing to provide €1.5 billion per year to enable a nationwide local public transport ticket, provided the states could combine to match this contribution. It says it envisions a permanent price somewhere in the region of €49 to €69. 

Introduction target: January 2023; other funding in question

As is quite often the case in Germany's federal system, the debate over who can pay what could prove tricky. States with less developed public transport infrastructure are also keen to stress that cheaper travel or a single convenient ticket is only part of the battle. 

"What good is a cheap bus that ultimately does not run?" the state premier of Saarland, Anke Rehlinger, asked on Deutschlandfunk public radio on Monday. "We need to think bigger." 

Rehlinger said she expected Wissing not just to discuss a blanket fare model, but also more assistance for states' local transport networks.

"What this is most urgently about right now is dealing with exploding energy costs and making our local public transport networks financially waterproof," Guido Beerman, the transport minister of Brandenburg, an eastern state that's less wealthy than the average in Germany, told the dpa news agency. 

Beerman said that the roughly €10.5 billion that the federal government was paying states to support local public transport this year might prove insufficient amid rising fuel and energy costs, and amid a desire to expand local services. He said that just maintaining local networks would require an additional €1.65 billion, and a further €1.5 billion would be needed to expand them. 

"The discussions on ticket prices should be incorporated into this [issue]," Beerman, a member of the Christian Democrats who are in opposition on the national level, said. "But the [federal coalition government] is trying to put the cart before the horse here. It won't work."

The state premier of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, said he was optimistic that states would agree to match the federal contribution to any such scheme. He said he believed states would be happy to "co-finance" but not to "overpay." He said he would rather not speculate on a potential price for consumers, saying that would be the outcome of "not easy negotiations between the federal and state governments." 

msh/aw (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

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