German transport minister supports pan-Europe transport ticket

BERLIN — German Transport Minister Volker Wissing spoke out in favor of a Europe-wide transport ticket similar to the €49 ticket valid throughout Germany that will soon become available.

“I think the European [thing] is a great idea; I’m already talking about it with my colleagues,” Wissing said at the UdL Digital Talk in Berlin this week when asked why he doesn’t approach public transport from a European perspective after having introduced the countrywide ticket in Germany.

A €49 transport ticket valid throughout Germany is to be introduced on May 1, as decided by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government in February. The so-called Deutschlandticket will be available as a monthly subscription and be valid on most means of public transport, apart from long-distance trains and long-distance buses.

Wissing, from the business-friendly Free Democrats, said he would be glad about “a pan-European solution.”

“I think that’s modern … We have a system today that has a logic out of supply, but not out of the needs of people,” Wissing said.

He also pointed out that France wants to introduce a similar offer, following the German example.

“I can well imagine that the next step will then be that we mutually recognize these tickets,” Wissing said.