Germany’s 49 Euro Ticket – a FAQ

My Twitter feed has been full of people asking about how Germany’s new 49 Euro public transport ticket is going to work. So here in this post I will try to give answers to all the frequently asked questions! All of this is correct as of 5th November 2022 – as and when we know more I will update the post accordingly.

What is the 49 Euro Ticket?
It is a flat rate public transport ticket – for 49 Euro you can travel on all local and regional buses, trams, metros, S-Bahn and regional trains for 1 calendar month in the whole of Germany.

Is 49 Euro for this a good deal?
Yes. A monthly public transport ticket for some individual cities has until now cost more than 100 Euro. So this reduces the costs for regular commuters pretty much everywhere. However the ticket is a lot more expensive than the experimental 9 Euro Ticket that was available for three months in the summer of 2022 – and that has led to some critique of the new ticket not being as cheap as had been hoped. It is assumed the ticket will cost 49 Euro per month for at least the first two years, and then the price could increase.

Will it replace all existing other monthly tickets?
Probably not all of them, no – especially the tickets that are less than 49 Euro per month, but which can only be used in a narrower geographic area. There is also a discussion about how to make a version of the ticket for low earners and for students, but that has not yet been resolved. Some regional variation is possible.

Can I take children or a bicycle along with me on my 49 Euro Ticket?
Probably not, but the exact rules have not yet been cleared up. Probably any child older than 6 will need their own ticket, but this might cost less than 49 Euro. And you will still probably still need a separate ticket to take along a bicycle.

What journeys does the ticket cover and not cover?
The ticket is for regional public transport, but across the whole of Germany. De facto this means city and regional buses, trams, metros, and S-Bahn and regional trains – regional trains are mostly categorised as RB, RE and IRE in German timetables. Long distance trains (IC and ICE, and Flix) and long distance buses (Flixbus etc.) are not included. At the moment it is not known whether some borderline cases – InterCity trains that nevertheless receive a regional subsidy for example, or tourist railways – are going to be included – check those on a case by case basis. You can check the category of any train in DB’s Reiseauskunft.

Does the ticket only cover public transport operated by publicly owned operators?
No. A lot of public transport in Germany is operated by private companies that have won tenders to operate lines, especially in regional rail. Whether a route is operated by Deutsche Bahn (public) or e.g. National Express or Go-Ahead (private) does not matter. Only the category of train matters – if it is a regional train, the 49 Euro ticket will work. If it is a long distance train (IC, ICE or Flixtrain), it will not.

So I could travel from München to Hamburg as many times in a month as I wanted on this ticket?
Yes, but only using regional trains. That would take you 12 hours with 4 changes, versus about 6 hours direct on a ICE – but ICEs are not included in the 49 Euro Ticket! In reality this ticket is going to be used more for short and medium distance trips – trips like Berlin to Görlitz or Hamburg to Westerland (Sylt) – than for trips from one end of Germany to the other.

Does a Germany-wide ticket for regional public transport make sense?
Germany is divided up into dozens of public transport authority areas (Verkehrsverbunde) – and many of these are quite small (map here). Crossing from one Verkehrsverbund to a neighbouring one often meant a much more expensive ticket – even for just a few more kilometres. The 49 Euro Ticket completely eliminates this problem. There could well have been other ways to eliminate the issue – and even perhaps cheaper ways – but the crux is that this major headache is removed thanks to this new ticket. That is probably more significant than being able to use the ticket country-wide.

Does the ticket work across the border to neighbouring countries?
At the time of writing we do not know exactly where this work, but the predecessor 9 Euro Ticket did work on some lines into neighbouring countries – some of those are listed here.

How did this idea come about?
Faced with rising petrol prices, the German government proposed a temporary fuel tax reduction for the summer of 2022. The Green Party (in the governing coalition) only agreed to this if public transport tickets were likewise reduced in price – and out of this compromise emerged the so-called “9 Euro Ticket” – in June, July and August 2022 regional and local public transport in Germany was available for just 9 Euro per month. The success of the 9 Euro Ticket scheme then led to a debate about a permanent follow up ticket – and that is the 49 Euro Ticket.

Who can buy a 49 Euro Ticket?
At the time of writing this has not been confirmed, but the 9 Euro Ticket was available to everyone – residents and non-residents alike. So it is a fair assumption this ticket will not have any sort of residence requirement. Tourists should be able to buy it too.

How can someone buy a 49 Euro Ticket?
We do not know yet. Transport Minister Wissing’s party is obsessed by digitisation, so that the ticket must be available digitally was a central part of his ministry’s plans – but whether that means only digitally is not yet known. The predecessor 9 Euro Ticket was available both digitally and on paper from ticket machines or ticket offices. Wissing has also talked about this being a kind of subscription, but one that can be cancelled every month – but whether it would then be compulsory to complete some kind of subscription sign up, so as to then cancel it a month later, is currently not known. It is likely the ticket will be non-transferable – it will have to have your name on it, preventing you lending it to friends or family.

The Hamburg public transport authority HVV has already launched a kind of pre-purchase system for the 49 Euro Ticket, and has its own FAQ as well (in German). This might be a template for how ticket purchase will ultimately work, and as the ticket works nationally you could theoretically order it in Hamburg and use it anywhere. The HVV system does however require your bank details and not just use a credit card – but there seems to be nothing against using any bank account with a BIC/SWIFT and IBAN code.

When will the scheme start?
Transport Minister Wissing wants the scheme to start on 1st January 2023, but a start date in March or April of 2023 is more likely.

UPDATES
5.11.2022 – link added to the bicycle policy, and link to the Hamburg pre-order system now included
5.11.2022 – questions added about whether the ticket makes sense, and if it can be used internationally

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