Deutsche Bahn and numerous transport associations and companies will start selling the nine-euro monthly ticket this Monday. On the DB Navigator train app, for example, the ticket will be available from “the early hours of the morning”, said a train spokesman. Sales will start in the DB travel centers “as soon as they open”.

Some transport companies and cities have already started selling in the past few days. In Wuppertal, those interested could even buy the ticket on Wednesday before the Bundestag and Bundesrat approved it.

E-mobility, transport policy and future mobility: the briefing on transport and smart mobility. For decision makers

Starting next month, passengers can use the monthly ticket to travel nationwide on local and regional public transport – i.e. on all public transport apart from long-distance trains such as Deutsche Bahn or Flixtrain. It applies in all cities and across all network borders. The special tickets are to be offered for June, July and August – for nine euros a month and thus much cheaper than normal monthly tickets.

Despite criticism and skepticism from the federal states, the Federal Council approved the project on Friday. The interest is high, for example the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) announced on Saturday that they had already received almost 35,000 orders the day before.

If you already have a monthly or annual subscription, you shouldn’t have to worry about anything else. “Reductions are automatically made for existing subscriptions, so that only nine euros are incurred per month,” says the Berlin-Brandenburg transport association, for example. The reductions will later be transferred back to the respective customer account.

The cheap tickets are part of the relief packages from the traffic light coalition because of the sharp rise in energy prices. At the same time, they should be a big taster campaign to attract more passengers and encourage them to switch from their cars.

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) spoke of an opportunity for local public transport and climate-friendly mobility. On Sunday, he defended the financing of the nine-euro ticket for commuters and other travelers against criticism from the federal states. The ticket is “fully financed,” said the FDP politician on ARD.

Everything is provided that the countries need, namely the full replacement for the ticket failures during this time. “We will talk about what the countries want in terms of more money in the autumn. It’s about financing public transport in the next few years,” Wissing announced.

According to the law passed on Friday, the federal government is providing the federal states with 2.5 billion euros, among other things, to compensate for the loss of income from transport providers.

The federal states must implement the project with transport associations and companies. They had demanded a further 1.5 billion euros in view of increased energy and personnel costs, but were unable to get their way. Anchored in the law, however, are payments of 1.2 billion euros to compensate for losses due to the corona pandemic.