The price of the Deutschlandticket will be increased to €58 per month from January 1, 2025. This has now been agreed by the transport ministers of the federal states. The decision-makers are celebrating the agreement as a great success. The AStA would like to clearly contradict this impression below.

The introduction of the €9 ticket for June to August 2022 meant affordable and sustainable mobility. The project gained a lot of recognition, not least internationally. It quickly became clear that public transport could be a real alternative for many people in this way. The service also revealed a great deal of pragmatism thanks to its nationwide coverage. It can therefore be said that the project was a complete success, above all due to the tangible improvements in the lives of millions of people. For low-income people in particular, it was a symbol of the autonomy they gained and the way they were perceived in politics. The effects of the offer should not be underestimated, especially with regard to the transport transition necessary for effective climate protection.

However, the most important prerequisite for all this is an affordable price. The renewed increase in the cost of the Deutschlandticket threatens to further jeopardize these achievements. Fears that this decision is the beginning of the end of the offer are spreading.

The increase means a further burden for students in particular. By linking the Germany-wide semester ticket, which we in Göttingen have also been using since winter semester 24/25, to the price of the Deutschlandticket, the semester fees will continue to rise. This is already very expensive in Göttingen at over €400, not least due to the high administrative fee of €75. With regard to this development, the AStA clearly criticizes the increase in the ticket price.

“Another increase in the semester fee would represent an uncompensatable financial burden for many students. Ultimately, this would also jeopardize their studies. Political leaders, especially those who feel committed to social justice, should urgently address this development. What is particularly disconcerting about these events is that the Federal Minister of Transport is turning a blind eye to this opportunity for freedom through affordable mobility for citizens for ideological reasons and is instead allowing public transport to deteriorate.”

– Marius Nürenberg, External Affairs Officer AStA Göttingen

For these reasons, we are appealing for a clear commitment to the transport transition and the long-term safeguarding of affordable and social transport services throughout Germany. Further price increases and omissions jeopardize the success of effective, socially acceptable climate protection and, not least, social peace.

AStA University of Göttingen