The 9-euro ticket and relaxed corona measures brought full trains to local public transport in summer.
The number of passengers increased "significantly" in the third quarter, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Thursday in its special evaluation.
Between July and September, 11 percent more passengers traveled by rail, including the S-Bahn, than in the previous quarter and even 53 percent more than in the same period last year.
"In addition to the 9-euro ticket valid from June 1st to August 31st, the easing of the corona measures should also have contributed to the increases," the statisticians explained.
Already in the second quarter, the number of passengers had increased by 46 percent compared to the previous quarter and by 74 percent compared to the same period last year,
Trams and light rail vehicles (including elevated, underground and suspension railways) carried three percent more passengers in summer than in the spring quarter and 24 percent more than a year earlier.
According to the statisticians, the growth here was significantly lower than in local rail transport.
They evaluated the data from transport companies that use automated passenger counting systems.
Passengers also traveled longer distances.
The transport performance in passenger kilometers - which measures the kilometers traveled by all passengers together - rose by a quarter in local rail transport compared to the previous quarter.
Compared to the same period last year, there was even an increase of 87 percent.
The EUR 49 Deutschlandticket is set to become the successor to the successful EUR 9 ticket from the summer, which sold more than 50 million times.
Local transport is essentially a matter for the federal states, but the federal government is obliged to co-finance it.
It is still unclear whether the Deutschlandticket can be offered as early as January 1, 2023.
The Association of Transport Companies (VDV) recently expressed doubts about the planned start date.