Berlin will be the first federal state to introduce a successor model to the 9-euro ticket in local public transport.

This was announced by the governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) on Thursday.

Corinna Budras

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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The ticket will cost 29 euros a month and will be available for three months from October - but only by subscription and only for the Berlin city area.

Brandenburg is left out, although the two federal states belong to a joint transport association (VBB).

However, there are major differences about the project, which is intended as an interim solution for a nationwide succession plan.

As things currently stand, it won't come until January at the earliest, and the federal and state governments are still far from agreeing on the financing.

After the crucial VBB supervisory board meeting on Thursday, Giffey tried to bridge the differences with Brandenburg with conciliatory words.

"I am very grateful to Brandenburg for enabling Berlin to take this path in our joint transport association," she said.

The approval of the neighboring country was necessary in the committee, although the financing is borne solely by Berlin.

going it alone in the capital

Until the very end, it was not certain whether Brandenburg would bring itself to do so, because the capital city's solo effort was viewed very critically there.

The fact that the Brandenburg colleagues only found out about the plans from the media in August caused outrage.

But there are also different opinions: Brandenburg belongs to a small group of states that want to burden the federal government with all the costs for a follow-up ticket;

a rush by the capital city in the difficult negotiations is rather a hindrance.

The Green Senator for Mobility, Bettina Jarasch, had made an urgent appeal to Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) in an interview with the FAZ at the end of August: the government in Brandenburg must also stand united behind the plans, she demanded.

"In this respect, a commitment from the entire state government in Potsdam would be necessary, that also means the state chancellery and the prime minister."

With the new 29-euro ticket, the focus is primarily on the financial advantages for customers: "We are thus relieving the burden on hundreds of thousands of Berliners," emphasized Giffey.

At 29 euros, it is only slightly more expensive than the social ticket that is already available for needy people in the capital.

The state government consciously accepts that this will also relieve people who could afford the higher price for an environmental ticket of around 86 euros per month.

"It is a flat rate for everyone, but in Berlin it is mainly accepted by the people who need it most," said Jarasch, referring to VBB studies on user behavior.

An affordable ticket is a "targeted offer" for low and middle incomes that can be introduced relatively quickly,

More than 100 million euros expensive

According to preliminary estimates, the Berlin relief package will cost around 105 million euros and should therefore put an additional strain on the already tight budget.

Although the metropolis generated a surplus of around 2.3 billion euros in the first half of the year, the Finance Senator does not consider this favorable situation to be a lasting development.

In any case, the capital is still the largest recipient of transfer payments in the financial equalization of the federal states.

With the decision for a fast connection ticket, Berlin is also sending a clear signal for the upcoming special conference of transport ministers next Monday.

At this meeting, the federal and state governments want to talk together for the first time about the controversial funding for a nationwide Germany ticket.

At the last meeting of transport ministers, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) was left out on the grounds that the federal states first wanted to agree on their own line.

However, this did not succeed at the time: while the majority of the states are willing to talk about the issue, states such as Brandenburg and Bavaria completely refuse to participate financially.

Since then, however, there has been further movement on the subject.

In the third relief package, the federal government has named concrete sums for the first time: the federal government wants to contribute 1.5 billion euros to enable a nationwide digital ticket - but only on the condition that the federal states add at least 1.5 billion euros.

If they are willing to do so, a follow-up ticket between 49 and 69 euros per month could be introduced from January, according to the paper by the traffic light government.

The concrete amount, which is of decisive importance for the attractiveness of the offer, depends on the participation of the federal states.

This does not meet with much approval among them.

It is quite possible that Berlin will therefore play an intermediary role.

"I'm getting on with the next big task now," said Jarasch,