Germany Reduces Deutschlandticket Price for Students to €29.4 From April 2024
Around 2.9 million students in Germany, both German nationals and foreigners, will be able to buy their Deutschlandticket at a reduced price of only €29.4 starting from the summer semester of 2024, which starts in April.
Currently, all students, like the rest of the population, have to pay €49 for Deutschlandticket, which is a subscription transport ticket for all local public transport, valid in the entire Germany, Studying in Germany reports.
The decision to reduce the price of a Deutschlandticket has been taken last Monday, November 27, by the transport ministers of the German federal states in a bid to reduce the costs of living for students in the country.
Commenting on the agreement, Federal Minister of Transport Volker Wissing expressed his delight, calling the new price of Deutschlandticket for students very reasonable.
“With the Deutschlandticket semester ticket, we are permanently binding a young group of customers to public transport,” Minister Wissing said.
Whereas the transport policy spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group, Isabel Cademartori, pointed out that the new price corresponds to 60 per cent of the standard ticket price.
The decision has been welcomed by the German Student Union (DSW), though its board chairman Matthias Anbuhl, expressed his belief that the price was still very high for students, 37 per cent of which have to get by on less than €800 a month.
“But it must also be clear: the €29.40 are absolutely the upper price limit. The student budget is already on edge,” he said, adding that the increases in energy prices, rents and food prices are putting a heavy burden on students.
He also pointed out that the new deal was reached without the participation of students, which according to him is major flaw.
“However, this positive solution has one major flaw: it was made without the participation of the students. They must be included in future negotiations,” Anbuhl noted.
In 2022, Germany introduced the €9 ticket, which was valid in the entire Germany. The same was replaced on May 1, 2023, by the €49 ticket, which has been financed by the state budget of the federal and state governments to compensate for losses for the transport companies.
The cheaper nation-wide ticket has contributed to an increase in the number of those using public transport, as according to data by the Federal Statistical Office, around 5.3 billion passengers used local public transport (ÖPNV) in the first six months of the year.
During the same period railways (including S-Bahn) marked an increase of 14 per cent to more than 1.2 billion. trams also recorded 14 per cent more passengers, reaching 1.8 million, and local bus transport increased to almost 2.5 billion passengers.