At the end of the month, the government wants to phase out the 9 euro ticket used for public transport across Germany since the beginning of June. Various initiatives therefore envisaged protest demonstrations on 20 and 27 August.
“9for90”: this is how the Confederation announced the 9 euro ticket. From June to the end of August, the population is expected to be lifted in times of price explosion. And indeed, this resulted in real savings, as the cost of a monthly pass was previously between €57 and €112. In addition, local transport could be used throughout Germany, especially used by families on holiday. There were also noticeably fewer traffic jams on the roads.
Due to a largely positive response and millions of tickets sold, calls for extensions quickly arose. But the federal government shows little willingness to talk. Finance Minister Christian Lindner even criticized a “free mindset” when it came to requests for free public transport, which attracted much ridicule and criticism. Now there is resistance.
Action days on 20 and 27 August
The Federation of Class Struggle Organizations (FKO) makes the impact. Already in mid-June, it had announced a day of action for “free local transport” on 20 August. In a statement is called[chiamato: “The federal government of all people is now proving in practice that the horrendous ticket prices in local public transport are by no means without alternatives. But that it is a political decision how these are composed or whether the use of local transport costs something”.
According to the FKO, the costs of expanding and maintaining local transport could easily be financed by eliminating subsidies for large companies and taxes on their profits. In fact, the subsequent funding of the €9 bill would cost around 10 billion euros a year, and therefore a tenth of what the federal government wants to invest in the upgrade.
After the introduction of so-called 365 euro tickets in some cities and the current 9 euro ticket, “the next logical step must now be the switch to permanently free local transport”. However, the focus should not only be on the ticket price, but at the same time local transport needs to be modernized and expanded nationwide and rural regions in particular need to be better connected and barrier-free. Only in this way can local transport “become a reliable and usable alternative to private transport”.
So far, campaigns have been announced in 8 cities nationwide:
Protests are also planned for the following Saturday. The initiative “9-Euro-Ticket-weiterfahren” advocates a continuation of the ticket: “9 euros is not just a ticket price. 9 euros means relief from rising prices, mobility for all, protection of climate, common good and a step towards the future call.
The demonstrations should take place on August 27. among others in Kassel, Stuttgart and Cologne. There are also protests in many other cities prepared.
Meanwhile, many carriers have had sometimes drastic price hikes since September in planning. So people don’t just have to dig deep into their pockets for regular tickets. In Stuttgart, after the end of the year, they would have to pay even more than 4.9 percent more for tickets, in the Nuremberg metropolitan area it is said to be 3 percent.
Majority for a 365 euro ticket, but we should go one step further
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