Public transport
The wave of termination after price increase in the D-Ticket is missing
In January, the Germany ticket became 20 percent more expensive. This has not led to a large extent. From the point of view of the industry, there is not much space for price.
Despite the significant increase in price at the Germany ticket for local public transport (public transport) in Germany, most users have remained loyal to the subscription. “We definitely do not see a wave of termination through the price increase,” said the President of the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), Ingo Wortmann. According to the association, the termination rate was 8.1 percent in January 2025. In 2024 it was around seven percent per month.
No scope for further increases
Of course, a price increase of 20 percent means that some users gave up the subscription, said Wortmann. “But the turn of the year has always been a time when customers check their contracts afterwards where they can save something if necessary.”
However, there is no large scope for further larger price increases, said VDV general manager Oliver Wolff. “The quota of the dismissals is now ok, but if the ticket becomes 20 euros more expensive, then it will be tight.”
The Germany ticket, with which the owner can use buses and trains of regional and local transport nationwide, has become nine euros more expensive at the beginning of the year and has been cost 58 euros per month since then.
The goal of the Germany ticket just missed
According to the VDV, around 13.5 subscribers use the offer. The industry thus has a good ten percent of its goal of getting around 15 million subscriptions by the end of 2024. The crucial reason for this is that many companies still do not offer the Germany ticket as a discounted variant to its employees, the VDV said. This is understandable in view of the political and financial uncertainties related to the offer.
Overall, local transport in Germany has recovered after the break-in in Corona pandemic. The transport companies recorded around 9.8 billion passengers last year. That was around 300 million customers more than in the previous year. Due to the increased costs for personnel, electricity or drives in the event of falling ticket income, the economic situation of many companies remains tense, emphasized the leader of the association.
dpa
Source: Stern
