Germany started for 9β¬ in the corona for 3 months (total chaos), then made it permanent for 49β¬ which climbed to 58β¬ after one year and from 2026 will go to 63β¬.
this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2025
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It sounds great, until you realize that their president and his party is literally doing this to deflect blame from a massive corruption/fraud scandal, for which they are absolutely guilty.
They're not even really denying it, just saying that the corruption doesn't matter because they're rolling this out for all college students.
Pretty good price. For 720β¬ a year I'd buy it. Our Swiss nationwide pass costs 4000 CHF a year. I can't really justify that one.
The Swiss one also includes local buses, trams and so forth run by the local government. This is just regional rail and long distance buses.
I mean the German one costs 59 euro and also covers all regional and local transit
You just can't take the ICE
63β¬ as of Jan β26, with annual CPI increases thereafter. Still incredible value though, and there are some routes that will take you into neighbouring countries.
Maybe they'll use the extra funds to fix the schedule
Oh, right you are. I should have read more of the article
would allow people to βtravel anywhere in the countryβ on middle-distance and suburban trains, and on national bus services.
Considering how much of my more expensive train travel is on the long distance IC trains, maybe that wouldn't be such such a hot offer for me after all.
Can't say enough good things about public transportation here, it's fantastic.
3hr more or less for me to go from anywhere to Madrid, all the while someone else is driving and I'm enjoying a nice, cold beer.
Not with this pass though. It only includes regional trains and long distance coaches run by the federal government. So local buses, metro, trams and so forth are not part of it.
Super Cool. Spanish trains actually go fast! I think we hit 325kph Seville to Madrid. Now if we could do that in Australia you could get CBD to CBD Sydney to Melbourne in under 3 hours. Thats better than the current 10 hour trip by train and about equals the trip by jet.
Looks like those are excluded, just like ICE trains are excluded from Deutschlandticket in Germany.
He said the pass [...] would allow people to βtravel anywhere in the countryβ on middle-distance and suburban trains, and on national bus services.
I'm curious about these, this one and the German one people talk about. Obviously the price is meant to be a good price, but at that price why not just make it free? Do so many people buy the pass that it actually makes a noticeable income? Or is it just to keep very poor people from having it?
but at that price why not just make it free?
the problem is that so many people want to use it that there's simply not enough trains to move the people. every time i enter an inter-city train, it's full. no exceptions. it's always full. more trains are needed, but it will take years. then the price can drop.
I understand your point. But consider that a fee-less transport would let demand surge (even further) and supply cannot keep up (it already can't). As a consequence: Those who really rely on public transport, like people who cannot afford a car, to live their lifes would be at a clear disadvantage.
I'm not sure I understand. Like right now I believe I've heard that Germany has a 60β¬ pass or something. How does that prevent demand from surging? Wouldn't the people who can't afford a car be the ones they would have more trouble with the 60β¬? Presumably the car people could pay for fare already.
Though it is true that they aren't, and maybe the idea is that they would ride the free train, because any price is enough to keep them as "car people"?
Proof in case: the free pensioner passes many European countries introduced.
For example in my hometown in Hungary, once the free pensioner passes were provided, traveller basis grew by some 30%. There were literally old ladies hanging out for hours at end in the back section, chatting away, not giving a single flying fuck that students wanted to get to school, people wanted to get to work and so on. Often I had to wait 2-3 buses in the morning to be able to get on, because the pensioners would swarm them early morning and refuse to get off.
And to date there's no limit during peak hours for them, which I think should be mandatory for these free passes.
but at that price why not just make it free?
Because that would be communism /s
At least here in Germany, there is a basically ongoing argument about who's responsible for what amount of the costs. There's federal finances, states' finances and the transport associations (of which there are around as many as there were states in the HRE) and they all want the others to pay.
Luxembourg made it free...
But lemmy tell you something: Germany is in no way prepared for the the increasing demand.
Right... but isn't the whole point of these passes to encourage people to use the systems?
I guess it's possible the price is chosen such that it encourages the right number of people and no more?
I am for a free or a least cheap ticket. I'm just saying: You need to prepare for it. Public transport in Germany is not as reliable as one might think. But in Germany, the car lobby has good connections to the politics and they are probably not that interested in a good working system that everyone can use.
/me cries in envious freedom tears