The 9-Euro monthly ticket business from this summer (June, July and August) just never seems to go away.
Lot of hype in highly urbanized cities, where the public wants the return of the monthly ticket. The dynamic of the ticket? You pay one time for 9 Euro....a ticket that allows you onto any bus/train in Germany for a month, except the intercity 'fast' trains or the ICE high speed trains. It was a 'gift' for the summer months to encourage people to use public transportation. Cost factor? There's several billion Euro that had to be injected into the public system....because 9 Euro doesn't cut the true cost.
What's going on? Huge public demand has turned the political cause to repeat the 9 Euro ticket. A committee is working on a draft solution (to come in mid-October). Affecting more federal funds? Well....yeah....into the billions.
What is openly discussed is a 49 Euro monthly ticket (not the 9 Euro ticket). Cost to the federal government? Federal folks say around 3 billion Euro a year would be required to make the 49 Euro ticket possible.
Screwed up? There are two significant issues. First, most people shake their head at 49 Euro in cost. It basically amounts to 1.63 Euro a day, which I don't think is a bad deal. Second, virtually everyone in the train industry will admit that they don't have the assets to really run a crowded network like it was in June, July and August.
My humble view is that 49 Euro will be the ticket authorized for monthly use, and about half of the enthusiasm will dwindle away for cheap travel (they will think that 49 Euro is too much). The 3 billion sponsored by the federal folks? Totally wasted in the end.
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