It’s a test like never before. The nine-euro ticket is valid for three months from Wednesday, June 1st. The federal government subsidizes it to compensate for the increased mobility costs. The ticket has already been sold more than half a million times in Berlin and Brandenburg alone. Deutsche Bahn sold 2.7 million tickets nationwide by Sunday.
The tickets cost nine euros each for the three months, they must be provided with a name and are not transferable. The 870,000 regular customers of the BVG, i.e. owners of environmental and student card subscriptions, annual cards, semester and senior citizen tickets, can also travel nationwide at no additional cost. In detail, these are: 350,000 student tickets, 300,000 environmental cards, 100,000 company tickets, 80,000 senior tickets, 30,000 trainee tickets and 10,000 10 o’clock tickets.
E-mobility, transport policy and future mobility: the briefing on transport and smart mobility. For decision makers
The Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg is therefore assuming a “significantly increased use of public transport on some routes”. The VBB recommends “foresighted and good travel planning”. Even experts do not want to predict how full it will actually be. The number of additional trains in regional and S-Bahn traffic is small. The BVG said: “Since the bus and train could get a little fuller in the coming months, the BVG asks all passengers to take care of each other.”
Where is it particularly crowded? Where are extra trains going? What else is new? An overview.
In rush-hour traffic, the journeys that are already in high demand are likely to be affected. According to the VBB, the trains to “attractive destinations” could also lead to “extraordinarily high demand, especially on weekends and public holidays”. This applies in particular to the routes from Berlin to the Baltic Sea (RE3 and RE5), to the Spreewald (RE2 and RB24) and to the Fläming (RE7).
The train warns against taking your own bike with you. In the past few summers, there were often overcrowded trains to the Baltic Sea, Cottbus and Dessau, in which cyclists were no longer taken.
“Further additional trains – especially for the holiday period from the beginning of July – are being examined with the transport companies,” said the VBB. However, according to the VBB, “virtually all available vehicles and personnel” are already in use. “The possibilities for expansion are limited due to both the limited vehicle availability and the extremely busy rail infrastructure,” it says.
The help from neighboring regions that is otherwise usual for major events such as Bundesliga games or church conferences is not possible in the next three months, since the nine-euro ticket is valid throughout Germany and the vehicles are needed everywhere.
Between Berlin and the Baltic Sea:
Between Berlin, Beelitz Heilstätten and Dessau: More seats at the weekend on the RE7 to the State Garden Show and to Dessau
Between Cottbus and Dresden: More seats in Lusatia on the RE15 and RE18 lines between Hoyerswerda and Cottbus and Dresden respectively
S-Bahn in Berlin and the surrounding area:
The campaign period for the nine-euro ticket not only begins at Whitsun, but also falls during the summer holidays, the VBB announced. During the holidays, Deutsche Bahn has, as usual, scheduled long-term construction work on many routes that cannot be canceled.
Users of the nine-euro ticket are therefore asked to find out about travel routes in advance and to be flexible. An overview of the major construction measures planned in Berlin and Brandenburg during the summer months can be found on the VBB website.
The campaign period for the nine-euro ticket was set by the federal government for the summer months of June to August, so the ticket is particularly suitable for traveling by bus and train during the summer holidays.
In order to relieve commuters, the summer holidays are also the time when major construction measures are carried out in the route network. In order for the rails, tracks and stations to remain efficient, these construction measures are unavoidable and planned well in advance in consultation with many involved – long before the nine-euro ticket saw the light of day. Short-term adjustments or changes are therefore not possible – it is recommended to switch to alternative travel routes and destinations during the construction work.
Staff presence at the subway stations will be increased. From Wednesday, another 20 will be added to the 40 stations that are already manned at night. For the time being until the end of August, from Sunday to Thursday from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., there will be staff from the security department at all stations on the U5 line between Frankfurter Allee and Hönow and all stations on the U7 line between Neukölln and Rudow, the BVG announced. An expansion of the night-time staffing will be examined after the campaign period.
“The BVG will use the next three months to get to know the needs of the new passengers. Their itineraries should show where the offer needs to be expanded in order to convince them of local transport in the long term,” said BVG board member Rolf Erfurt.
