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German public transport prices 'will rise steeply' after €9 offer, warns operator

The Local Germany
The Local Germany - [email protected]
German public transport prices 'will rise steeply' after €9 offer, warns operator
A ticket machine in Erfurt, Thuringia. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Martin Schutt

The German government is introducing a €9 monthly ticket to ease the burden of transport costs on struggling households - but transport operators say they will have to recoup the costs come autumn.

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Many people are eagerly awaiting the launch of the cheap monthly transport ticket, which will run from June 1st to August 31st and allow passengers to travel on local and regional transport all over Germany.

But the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) has warned that the temporary relief in travel costs could be tempered by a disproportionate rise in ticket prices come September.

"In the medium term, we will have to pass on the missing funds to the fares or restrict the offer," VDV president Ingo Wortmann told RND on Monday.

READ ALSO: €9 for 90: Everything you need to know about Germany’s cheap travel deal

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"So ticket prices will continue to rise - not directly on September 1st, but in the next round of price increases. Unfortunately, we will then get into the situation where people who are already burdened will have to pay more for their journeys."

The cut-price offer is unlikely to be enough to lure car-users to greener transport until the general offer is improved for passengers, Wortmann claimed. 

"I see the ticket quite positively," he said. "But all previous experiences with cheap public transport show that the offer has to be right and the price is secondary." 

There have also been fears that the timing of the ticket - which will run throughout the summer and school holidays - could lead to overcrowding on buses and trains. 

In a recent poll on the new ticket offer, 63 percent of participants said they would "definitely" or "probably" use the €9 ticket over summer. 

The majority of The Local also said in a poll that they planned to take advantage of the offer

To tackle the issue, Deutsche Bahn is offering an additional 60,000 seats per day in regional transport and customers are being told to leave their bikes at home.

"I don't want to talk about chaos, but there will be a lot of full trains and buses," Wortmann said, adding that popular tourist destinations like the North Frisian island of Sylt and the Baltic Sea coast could be particularly hard-hit.

He said that full trains could potentially cause tensions between passengers and, "in very extreme cases", even attacks on employees. 

READ ALSO: What is Sylt and why is it terrified of Germany’s €9 holidaymakers?

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