With petrol prices in Germany surging past €2 per litre following the escalation of the Iran conflict, the Greens are calling on the federal government to bring back the 9-euro ticket as an emergency relief measure. Katrin Eder, lead candidate of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen in Rhineland-Palatinate, made the demand direct: "A €9 ticket is the best way in this crisis to directly relieve the population by using revenue from a windfall profits tax." She added: "The success model, the €9 Germany ticket from the last gas crisis, worked: for wallets and for the climate. The federal government must act quickly and easily to relieve people here."
The 9-euro ticket was a three-month emergency measure introduced in June, July and August 2022, giving anyone in Germany unlimited travel on all local and regional public transport, buses, trams, U-Bahns and regional trains, across the entire country for just €9 per month.
Launched to cushion the blow of rapidly rising energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it cost the federal government €2.5 billion and proved immediately popular. Approximately 430,000 additional people travelled by train every single day during the scheme. It expired on 31 August 2022.
The Deutschland ticket launched on 1 May 2023 as the permanent successor to the 9-euro ticket, offering the same nationwide flat-rate pass for local and regional public transport but at a significantly higher price of €49 per month. It has since risen twice, first to €58, then to its current price of €63. The two tickets share the same concept but are entirely separate schemes, with the Deutschland ticket designed as a long-term product rather than a crisis intervention.
Independent research has complicated the case for bringing the 9-euro ticket back as a climate solution. A study by the ifo Institute, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and the University of Salzburg found that the 9-euro ticket reduced car traffic by only 4 to 5%, while train delays rose by 30% due to higher passenger volumes. ifo Institute researcher Sarah Necker described it as "an expensive and inefficient climate protection measure," noting that most additional journeys were taken on regional services at weekends, with few commuters actually swapping their cars for trains on working days.
The Deutschland ticket currently costs the federal and state governments €3 billion per year in subsidies to compensate transit operators for revenue shortfalls, a commitment running through 2030. Even at €63 per month, that funding is expected to fall short of actual costs, which is why state transport ministers have now agreed that the price will rise automatically every year from next year, tied to a fixed index covering labour, energy and general operational costs.
Bringing back a €9 ticket would dramatically widen that gap. At the current Deutschland ticket price of €63, the annual subsidy bill already stands at €3 billion, a 9-euro ticket would represent a fraction of that revenue, potentially requiring multiples of the current public funding commitment to keep the network operational.
VCD President Christiane Rohleder put the contrast starkly: "While rising fuel prices immediately trigger political debates about relief, high price increases in public transport are simply accepted." With the Deutschland ticket locked into annual rises and the 9-euro ticket debate back on the table, the question of who gets relief, drivers or public transport users, is firmly back in the political spotlight.
From breaking news to thought-provoking opinion pieces, our newsletter keeps you informed & engaged.
