“Is the new Deutschland-Ticket Worthwhile for Commuters? Three Local Perspectives”

Is the new Deutschland-Ticket only worthwhile for people who live in metropolitan areas with well-developed public transport? This accusation has been heard more frequently since the ticket was launched on May 1st. In the Main-Spessart district, demand is said to have been very high, as the district’s local transport officer explained in the district council. We asked three local commuters: Do they use the ticket, or is it not an option for their commute for some reason?

Andre Weinrich from Frammersbach: “A Germany ticket should have been introduced 20 years ago”

Andre Weinrich has been commuting by train from Frammersbach to Aschaffenburg for 17 years. He paid 93 euros for the first subscription ticket back then, and 165 today. “The 49-euro ticket is a blessing – it should have been introduced 20 years ago,” he says. He thinks the price is reasonable, and there is actual relief for commuters. Nine euros was exaggerated. “But the price will probably not stay that way. I can well imagine that it will be increased next year,” he says. Weinrich thinks it’s a shame that other benefits have been lost for “regular customers” like him. With his subscription card he was otherwise able to take an additional person with him on Saturdays and there was also a BahnCard 25 free of charge – that is no longer necessary. And one problem remains: that trains are always delayed or cancelled. “At my job, it’s not a problem if I’m late. I just don’t make appointments early anymore.” But this loss of time is too great for young people. “They won’t be regular rail customers,” predicts Weinrich.

Richard Roos from Esselbach: “It would have been better to invest in the expansion of local transport”

Richard Roos commutes from Esselbach to his workplace in Frankfurt – by car. “No matter how cheap the ticket is – I can’t get to Frankfurt with the existing local public transport and do a working day,” he says. It takes about 50 minutes by car. With public transport, he would first have to take the bus to Marktheidenfeld, change there to the bus to Lohr and then take the train to Frankfurt at the train station. It would be a 15 minute walk to his place of work. In order to be in the office around 9 a.m., he would have to be on the first bus at 6:21 a.m. – instead of comfortably getting into the car at 8 a.m. In the evening he would either have to finish work early, be back in Lohr at 5.20 p.m. and take the last regular bus to Esselbach. Or book the Rufbus days in advance. Roos, who is mayor in Esselbach, therefore says: “The money with which the 49-euro ticket is subsidized would have been better invested in an expansion of local transport.” However, he finds it positive that the tariff honeycombs and zones are eliminated with the Deutschlandticket and the transition to Hesse or Baden-Württemberg is made easier.

Alexander Kühl from Karlburg: “Why is the 49-euro ticket only available as a subscription?”

Alexander Kühl takes the regional train to Würzburg every day from Karlstadt train station. With the new ticket, he saves 70 euros a month. “You can’t say anything about the price of the Germany ticket, even if I would have liked it to be cheaper, of course,” he says. He suspects that the success of the 9-euro ticket surprised many of those responsible – and that they were therefore afraid of a new rush. As a regular commuter, the fact that the trains were overcrowded last summer was not particularly pleasant for him. Nevertheless, he says: “I would have accepted that for 9 euros a month. Then the railways could have found permanent solutions and, for example, used more wagons.” The fact that the ticket is only available as a subscription and can only be booked at the beginning of the month keeps many newcomers and occasional travelers from trying out the train. It is also a hurdle for older people that the ticket is mainly sold digitally. Cool rides his bike to the Karlstadt train station. He finds it a pity that the bus cycle between Karlstadt and Karlburg is not better timed. “At many times of the day the train from Würzburg arrives when the bus to Karlburg has been gone for five minutes.”