Just one year after the last price increase, the monthly price of Germany’s popular all around travel pass, the Deutschlandticket, is set to go up again.
At a conference in Munich, the transport ministers from the German states unanimously agreed on an adjustment of the Deutschlandticket price to €63 – effectively raising the monthly tariff by €5.
Earlier this week, DPA had reported that a price increase of around €4-6 was on the table. Now the price increase has been confirmed.
“Users can rely on it, everyone now has clarity about how this will continue,” the chairman of the conference, Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) told journalists in Munich, adding that the federal and state governments had come to an agreement after difficult negotiations.
Why is the price going up?
Since its introduction, the Deutschlandticket, which is heavily subsidised by both the federal and state governments, has caused a significant loss of revenue for transport companies. Previous, locally available subscriptions were more expensive.
According to industry figures, the ticket, which allows travel on regional and local public transport nationwide, is used by around 14 million people.
The background to the new price increase, which will kick-in on January 1st, 2026, is a financial dispute between the federal and state governments. Neither side wanted to provide more money to compensate the transport companies for their losses, so the only option in the end was to raise the price again.
According to the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), a massive financing gap was looming, of a predicted €800 million as early as 2026.
’63-euro ticket’
When the Deutschlandticket was introduced in May 2023 it was often referred to as the “49-euro ticket”. It was the successor to the 9-euro ticket, which was temporarily introduced as economic relief package that came as part of an economic stimulus plan that was intended to offset losses brought by Covid restrictions.
At the beginning of this year, the price of the ticket had already risen from €49 to €58.
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Between each price increase were what felt like constant debates between the transport companies, the state governments and the federal government around financing.
The latest agreement, reached among the state transport ministers in Munich on Thursday is intended to lock-in the price and create a transparent process for future price adjustments.
READ ALSO: Six day trips you can take from Nuremberg with the Deutschlandticket
From 2027 onwards, the price of the nationwide Deutschlandticket is to be adjusted periodically, according to a fixed mechanism.
“There are no more big leaps now,” Bernreiter said. “We want this to become automatic. It should be calculated with clear key figures…”
Bavaria’s transport minister suggested that this autumn, a cost index will be developed that is to take wage and energy costs into account.
Broken promises
Before the transport ministers’ conference, state ministers had blamed the federal government for a price increase.
The conservative Union and centre-left Social Democrat parties were also accused of breaking their word, because the parties had said that the price of the Deutschlandticket was to remain stable under their stewardship.
The coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD, which is subject to financing reservations, states that the price should only be increased gradually and in a socially acceptable manner from 2029.
The Pro-Rail Alliance said that the price increase would offend many people, adding that it was “regrettable” that the federal and state governments were both refusing to allocate more funds to the travel pass.
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The federal government did recently announce plans to provide billions of euros worth of additional funding for commuter allowance, a tax break which specifically benefits people who drive to work.
Merz’s government also plans to cut a levy on gas used in German households, but scrapped a tax cut on electricity for households that had previously been promised.
READ ALSO: Tax relief – Germany plans VAT cut in restaurants and hike in commuter allowance
With reporting by DPA.
