The national monthly travel ticket of Germany, worth 49 euros or 2,000 hryvnias at the current exchange rate, has been officially issued and is on sale. It will come into effect on May 1, 2023, but everyone can apply for it now, the federal government said in a statement.
According to the plan of the German authorities, the single ticket should reduce the financial burden on the country’s citizens due to the sharp rise in energy prices, make public transport more attractive and transfer people from cars to buses and trains. This is the successor to the earlier ticket costing €9.
The new single travel ticket will be valid for all public and regional rail transport. This means that its owners will be able to use all buses and trains of public regional and local transport throughout the country.
The ticket is issued in the format of a monthly subscription for both German citizens and tourists coming to the country. The subscription can be canceled if the ticket becomes unnecessary. Discounts are provided for the most vulnerable categories of residents.
The introduction of the single travel ticket and its pre-sale were welcomed by the German Federal Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing. “This new ticket will open up opportunities for many people to get around Germany, from everyday travel to leisure and recreation,” he said.
The national ticket of Germany is expected to be a real hit. However, the federal states said they were prepared for losses. For this reason, the German government has already decided to allocate 1.5 billion euros every year until 2025 to the federal states to ease the burden.