49-euro ticket for students: what could become of the semester ticket

Berlin
The Germany ticket will be available from May for 49 euros a month. But what applies to students who have already paid for their semester ticket?

With the 9-euro ticket last summer, everything was still quite simple: you could travel by bus and train throughout Germany for three months for just a few euros. This also applied to students – their semester ticket was valid throughout Germany. It is now clear how public transport should continue: It will start in less than two months Germany ticket, which will be 40 euros more expensive. Behind the ticket are long negotiations between the federal and state governments. However, one group was hardly considered in the many considerations: students. They are now wondering what to do with their semester ticket.

Semester ticket: This is how it worked so far

At many universities, bus and train tickets usually work like this: students buy the semester ticket – by paying the semester fee every six months. They can only be exempted from this in exceptional cases. Because all students pay for the subscription, the subscription is also cheaper for everyone – there is a volume discount from the transport association.

The principle is called the solidarity model. Even if you, as a student, prefer to travel by bike and not take the train, your contribution ensures that bus and train travel remains affordable for your fellow students. However, the price for that semester ticket varies from state to state and city to city.

49-euro ticket cannot simply be linked

After the end of 9-Euro-Tickets the universities paid the students the difference between the semester contribution and the nine euros. The semester ticket was valid nationwide on buses and trains during the campaign. For this reason, many students might now think that their already paid semester ticket can also be used again as a Germany-wide ticket from May. But so far it doesn’t look like it.

The Germany ticket is included 49 euros a month more expensive than the semester ticket. As a result, there would be no refund like the nine-euro ticket. So how can students drive across the country? There are theoretically several possibilities of what could happen:

Everything remains as it is. The students who want to buy a Germany ticket. As a result, they would have to pay twice.
The students top up the difference between the semester ticket and the Germany ticket. The students would therefore not be able to avoid around 49 euros a month.
A new semester ticket based on the 49-euro ticket is being negotiated according to the principle of solidarity.
The 49-euro ticket is offered to students at a lower price.

The first of May is approaching and one unified solution does not yet exist for the approximately 2.9 million students. The federal states are reacting to the many question marks with different proposals – or with none at all. When asked, the Hesse and Saxony-Anhalt transport ministries, for example, respond that negotiations between the federal and state governments are ongoing and that there is currently no final decision.

Which federal states are already pushing forward with solutions

Bavaria already has something more concrete plans: The Deutschland-Ticket should cost 29 euros for students and trainees. However, it will not be available until the 2023/2024 winter semester. A similar offer is also being considered in Lower Saxony, Thuringia and Saarland. In Saarland, the ticket could already be available in May for 30.40 euros. What it looks like with a combination of the semester ticket remains unclear. In other federal states such as Hamburg, it is planned that students could initially upgrade their semester ticket to a nationwide ticket for around 18.20 euros.

Criticism of the 49-euro ticket from the Studierendenwerk

Matthias Anbuhl, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Deutsches Studierendenwerk, criticizes the suggestions to this editor: “If the mandatory semester ticket and Germany ticket come together, then the semester ticket should be significantly cheaper for students than the Germany ticket for reasons of fairness alone, and they have to have the opportunity to upgrade their semester ticket to become a Germany ticket, preferably at a slightly reduced price.”

According to Anbuhl, students have to move to the surrounding area in times of high rents and are absolutely dependent on public transport. The 49 euros would go beyond the budget of the students.