Transportation ministers of 16 federal states said on Thursday that the cost of the popular monthly public transit ticket, known as Deutschlandticket, would be raised to €63 ($74) starting on January 2026.
The rise in price for the monthly subscription was agreed to after a special meeting of the regional leaders.
The southern state of Transportation Minister, Christian Bernreiter of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CSU), said after the special meeting that the decision had been unanimous.
The and allows subscribers unlimited rides on local and regional buses and . The ticket excludes the long-distance high speed ICE trains that connect German cities.
Southwestern state’s Transport Minister, Winfried Hermann of the environemntalist Greens, welcomed what he called a compromise on the fate of the program.
“We had hoped for more funding from the federal government in order to keep the price lower,” he added, while still stressing that compared to most monthly passes, the Deutschlandticket can still be considered affordable.
Mobility association criticizes hike
According to the agreement, the federal and state governments will continue to contribute €1.5 billion per year each to finance the Deutschlandticket until 2030.
But despite the certainty on the program’s continuation, the mobility and environmental association VCD rejected the decision to raise the price, saying it could lead to widespread customer cancellations.
“The Deutschlandticket is becoming more expensive once again and once again being used as a political football,” VCD chief Kerstin Haarmann said in a statement.
“Yet it remains a . Constantly tweaking the price is undermining the trust of millions of passengers,” she added.
The organization noted that the price of the ticket is on its second hike. It had already been increased from €49 to €58 at the beginning of 2025, which prompted a million customers, especially younger people, to cancel their subscriptions.
Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah
The post Germany’s ‘Deutschlandticket’ price rises again appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
