More and more federal states are distancing themselves from the traffic light government's plans to introduce a 9-euro ticket for local public transport for three months from June.

After Bavaria and Bremen, Thuringia emphasized on Tuesday that it cannot yet bring itself to agree to the Bundesrat on Friday.

Negotiations are still ongoing, a decision will probably only be made shortly before, i.e. on Thursday evening or Friday morning, said a government spokesman on Tuesday.

The Budget Committee of the Bundestag meets on Thursday.

Corinna Budras

Business correspondent in Berlin.

  • Follow I follow

A spokeswoman for the Thuringian Ministry of Transport called the expected 33 million euros in federal funds for Thuringia "not sufficient to compensate for the losses".

This corresponds to the Free State's share of the total sum of 2.5 billion euros promised by the Federal Ministry of Transport.

In addition, Thuringia is demanding an increase in the so-called regionalization funds from the federal government for the expansion of local public transport.

According to the current plans, Thuringia will receive 337 million euros from the federal government, while it will invest around 76 million euros in local public transport itself, according to a survey by the FAZ.

Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also expressed serious doubts.

Together, these five countries have 20 out of a total of 69 votes.

You alone could not block the project on Friday.

"It is not wise to risk failure"

SPD parliamentary group deputy Detlef Müller called on the states to approve.

"Then ticket sales can start on Monday," he said.

He knows that the federal states structurally need more funds for local public transport.

"But it's not wise to risk the ticket failing right to the end with tactical games at this point."

However, calls for increased financial support are widespread.

Many countries fear being stuck with additional costs after the three-month discount campaign.

The ticket price of 9 euros per month corresponds to just one tenth of the other costs in many places.

The transport associations also insisted on a further increase in regionalization funds, which was also explicitly mentioned in the coalition agreement: "In the federal government, one has to acknowledge that many people are switching to public transport in order to save on fuel costs themselves," said VDV- General Manager Oliver Wolff of the FAZ "Buses and trains are filling up rapidly." He referred to the "essential transport policy goals in Germany".

Only one thing will help in the transport sector: the expansion of buses and trains.

There is a risk of a rude awakening if the increase in regionalization funds provided for in the coalition agreement does not come about and if the increased fuel and energy prices are not taken into account.

"Then companies will have to cut back on bus and train services."