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astromech_dj t1_iuvlbd4 wrote

Is that what it’s like having grown ups running your country?

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AndyPanic t1_iuw0189 wrote

It’s only a first step. Because as of now public transportation doesn’t have enough capacity, railway infrastructure is not up to standard. So a lot of things have to happen to really make it a success. But it’s a start.

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3lektrolurch t1_iuwdh7a wrote

We need to modernize and renew our rail network ASAP. We missed to do so in the last 16 Years under Merkel and now face a potential partial collapse of some rail connections. Depending on where you live disruptions of train traffic are a daily occurence, which sucks, because I love riding the train when it works.

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willie_caine t1_iuwn6e4 wrote

Earlier this year the government committed to state investment in the railways of over €60bn over the next 10 years, and this year alone DB is investing €13bn, focused on improving infrastructure and capacity. They ordered 43 new trains too, it seems.

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3lektrolurch t1_iuwntrf wrote

Which is good, but we passed on the oppurtunity to use the low interest rates of the 2010s and instead held on to nonsensical austerity measures instead of building up our infrastructue.

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willie_caine t1_iuwo5oa wrote

True - we could already have some of these improvements. Better late than never, I suppose.

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Acc87 t1_iuy1r7z wrote

Don't forget that we have something called Verbandsklage since the early '00s that makes every single infrastructure project a huge extensively long process as they all will go before court, often multiple times. Can't just build new railroads, bridges or anything really. Look at the state of the Fehmarn Belt crossing as an example.

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MrmmphMrmmph t1_iuxprnb wrote

At 8 Euro for the summer that was a toddler suggestion. Packed and tons of cancellations, not the German trains I was used to. I should have rented a car when I visited. Maybe this rate will ease that congestion enough.

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ProfDumm t1_iuy91qk wrote

I don't disagree but it was 9 Euro.

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MrmmphMrmmph t1_iuygfv8 wrote

That’s right. I still think the normal system is miles ahead of the Northeast US commuter trains I’m accustomed to. And the DB information people on platforms puts our single central kiosks to shame.

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U-broat t1_iuy5bhw wrote

I don't know when you last visited but things have gotten worse even in the 4 years I've lived here. The 9 euro ticket was pure chaos on any of the intercity regional lines.

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MrmmphMrmmph t1_iuy8i4c wrote

It was in August, that was an aberration. Once I got into the Netherlands, Belgium and France, that resembled the German transit I had been used to. I think that low price point overloaded the system for the summer.

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Esava t1_iv0cion wrote

Around here in Hamburg and surrounding area it actually got a lot better in recent years.

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BobbyP27 t1_iuvhv23 wrote

Inflation is harsh in Germany, it was only 9 EUR in August.

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nibbler666 t1_iuydill wrote

This is not in any way related to inflation. It was 9 Euros from June to August in summer because it was meant as a one off. But the ticket was so popular that it was decided to have the ticket long-term. For financing the ticket for years you simply need a more realistic price.

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ulf5576 t1_iuz6kwx wrote

that was a joke , reading comprehension = F

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Nikolozeon t1_iuvru3z wrote

Nationwide short and medium distance?

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BobbyP27 t1_iuvs9ok wrote

For June, July and August, to help stimulate economic recovery from COVID Germany had a 9 Euro ticket for a month, for all local public transport and all local and regional trains, the same validity as this one.

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WhiteMedi t1_iuygawd wrote

They operated under loss during that time and got subsidized IIRC This is not the result of inflation.

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ProfDumm t1_iuy9g35 wrote

Yes. Short and medium distance is a bit misleading. It means that you can take any public transportation up to regional trains. You can get trough the whole nation with it (it just takes longer than long-distance trains).

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Hiko0 t1_iux7x7m wrote

I wonder what this will mean for domestic tourism. It‘s great to know that you can travel anywhere within Germany and you can use unlimited public transportation at your destination, too.

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MediocreI_IRespond t1_iuxrhsx wrote

It's not unlimited. Long distance trains stil costs extra.

But it is very, very convenient at cheaper than most regional offerings.

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Hiko0 t1_iuxrzjf wrote

I‘m talking about public transportation, for example within Berlin when you are visiting from Hamburg. With a monthly ticket from Hamburg, right now you would have to buy tickets in Berlin as a tourist. The „Deutschlandticket“ covers that.

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mouzeras t1_iuv87in wrote

Onward and upward

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InspectionOk2547 t1_iuxigb2 wrote

It would be great if there was a EU wide ticket.

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SatansPrGuy t1_iuxkkp2 wrote

There is. It's a Eurail pass. Idk what it costs and if it covers EVERY train but my dad used it to travel to pretty much every EU country.

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Paweron t1_iuxmohq wrote

That costs 700€ for 3 months though because it includes long distance connections

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SatansPrGuy t1_iuxnvee wrote

Oh I see, well for three months of travel it's probably cheaper than what I spent on my gas for 3 months but yeah definitely not affordable for a lower middle-class person.

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IceColdPorkSoda t1_iuxqrkn wrote

Very affordable vs gas, maintenance, and carrying insurance. Never any big surprises like, “My transmission needs to be repaired and it’ll cost 3000 euros. If you can live life using only public transport and don’t have to own a car at all that is huge cost savings.

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SatansPrGuy t1_iuxzw21 wrote

Yeah. Hopefully, our high-speed rail will actually get built in California. Otherwise, we have no public transport that actually gets you somewhere you would want to go.

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FightOnForUsc t1_iuyoysl wrote

The unfortunate problem is, even when you get there we have shitty public transportation on the other end. A lot of that is because the cities aren’t designed well for public transportation

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IceColdPorkSoda t1_iuzqt35 wrote

I’m with you there bud. It’s sad to see how quickly things can get built in other places and how good public transportation can be. Come back to California and nothing gets done because it all gets litigated to death.

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SatansPrGuy t1_iuzuga4 wrote

Yeah, I love it here but we have too much red tape. It's just a turn off for people who would want to come here. It's such an awesome state and it could be even better!

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ulf5576 t1_iuz6x7x wrote

yesterday i drove a route in 48 minutes which would have taken me 8h30mins with public transportation

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mustard5man7max3 t1_iuxykqd wrote

It’s absurdly expensive, which is why people don’t go Eurorailing in their gap years anymore. It’s a shame

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PanzerSucette t1_iuw799y wrote

While loving the initiative, its gonna be the same problem as when they offered the 9euros thing in august : Make more ppl use overcrowded services. During the last 9euros offer, you jsut couldnt have a place/seat. The problem is not really the price but the offer. Not enough trains/bus/wagons etc

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Shiro1_Ookami t1_iuwd0o5 wrote

49€ with a monthly subscription will lower demand significantly. This ticket will mostly be used by people who already own a subscription.

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Reddit-runner t1_iuwsrnj wrote

>This ticket will mostly be used by people who already own a subscription.

Maybe by a majority, but not by an overwhelming majority.

If you want to stay in an other city for even just a weekend this ticket already makes sense.

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dc456 t1_iuxk9xp wrote

I think it depends what they mean by ‘medium distance’. €49 for just travelling around a local city for a couple of days is a lot.

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[deleted] t1_iuxr8gd wrote

[deleted]

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dc456 t1_iuxyskl wrote

Nice, so the same as the €9 previous one. It wasn’t clear in the article if it had the same conditions. Thanks for explaining.

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[deleted] t1_iuxzi9h wrote

[deleted]

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dc456 t1_iuy0awo wrote

Yeah, it looks to be a good deal, but I think it’s not an immediate saving on every local or regional weekend away. In some cases it’ll need more than one trip a month to make financial sense.

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graymatterqueen t1_iuyaly3 wrote

For anyone living in a major city in Germany the ticket is a no-brainer. A 30-day-ticket for my (500k) major city e.g. costs 82€(!!!) and only covers the city itself. Not even going to the neighboring town. Betcha I'm going to order the 49€ across Germany one. And many others will too.

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dc456 t1_iuybivw wrote

Yeah, that’s a use case I can definitely see.

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Reddit-runner t1_iuxltii wrote

>€49 for just travelling around a local city for a couple of days is a lot.

Well buddy, how much do you think it costs today?

Including getting from your home to this city and then back home again?

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dc456 t1_iuxy52n wrote

> Well buddy, how much do you think it costs today?

Well it depends on how local, doesn’t it? Like a trip from Bad Nauheim to Frankfurt followed by six short singles over the weekend is around €28.

That’s my point about what ‘medium’ means - if you can travel a few hours to a city for €49, then it makes more sense.

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Reddit-runner t1_iuy6qnx wrote

Try going from Öhringen to Stuttgart. About 70km. That's 12.80€ one way. And then you still have to buy your day ticket for Stuttgart. That's an other 6-13€ a day depending on how many zones you plan to travel in.

How do you determine the number of zones? Well, good luck trying to find that out.

And if you don't live in walking distance from Öhringen train station? That's up to an other 7€ per trip.

So for a 3 day trip to Stuttgart you are already looking at well over 50€ even if you stay within the more inner zones of Stuttgart.

But maybe you could combine some of those tickets so it gets cheaper? Well, again good luck finding out how. Report back please.

As you see even ignoring your other monthly costs within the area of Öhringen the 49€ is well justified.

Not only is it likely to be cheaper than a weekend trip currently, it also completely eliminates the ticket confusion. It just makes travelling easier. More attractive.

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willie_caine t1_iuwngt9 wrote

The government and DB have committed to spending billions in improving infrastructure, so it seems they had the same thought as you :)

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Paweron t1_iuxmbfc wrote

That will take years or even decades to be carried put though.

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willie_caine t1_iv085uj wrote

€13bn this year, and over €60bn over the next 10 years, apparently.

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Ko-jo-te t1_iuxvq1u wrote

That's a short-term problem pressing for a solution. If it hapoens, the government will soebd the dough for better infrastructure, because it makes sense in many ways. It's much easier to come up with the money when trains are overcrowded, even though it would've been smarter to make the services better and more attractive to attract more users naturally. Humans are weird like that.

Also, I love that it happens. Public transport almost never vreaks even directly, money-wise. The profit lies in better connectivity for many people. Good for the economy and society. A long term strategy.

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Double_Ad_7461 t1_iuyrgw6 wrote

increasing demand for public transport is a good thing. then when new lines are developed you dont have to worry about usage.

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bwanabass t1_iuxuz6b wrote

Wow, what a concept! A government that actually makes life better for its citizens!

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badguy84 t1_iuxxuln wrote

There is... or used to be something similar in the Netherlands, you could travel nationally on trains/busses/trams/subways. "Back in my day" it was actually a "free" student perk.

Any way this type of stuff is great, it really does feel different when you can just board a bus, then a train, then a tram without needing different/separate tickets/stamps/payment.

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C_RONALDO7 t1_iuym8hl wrote

It’s 100 euro/month for unlimited (off-peak hours) train travel in Netherlands using the sprinter. 300 euro/month for truly unlimited

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redandbluezebra t1_iuygt4v wrote

Oh, to have nationalised public transport.

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lostsoul2016 t1_iuw5wfv wrote

Great idea but wondering how many would need that.

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hawxxer t1_iuwjbvy wrote

pretty much everyone who uses the train to go to work. I paid around 200 euros per month even with lowered prices for students...

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Kahodes04 t1_iuxm58q wrote

What'd your covarage? I pay 1€ per day in Vienna and it works inside the Bundesland

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Shiro1_Ookami t1_iuwdj4t wrote

This ticket is cheaper than most basic public transport subscriptions. Even the monthly ticket for Nuremberg/Fürth is more expensive than that and It is useful if you use the whole area of one transport association more than twice a month. You don’t habe to care about borders… etc.

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willie_caine t1_iuwnsbn wrote

Loads! It costs the same as my current monthly ticket, but that's only valid for my local region. Lots of people are caught out by crossing boundaries between networks and can find themselves needing multiple tickets - this all goes away. Not to mention anyone just wanting to travel a bit.

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JerryCalzone t1_iuw82sl wrote

Big cities are getting too expensive to rent or buy, home office has been normalized - there ye go.

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SarcasticAssClown t1_iuwpdxc wrote

Plenty of companies rolling that one back already, at least partially - which then opens another dilemma: if you only have to go to the office thrice per week, but still needed the same expensive monthly pass since still cheaper than single tickets.

So I honestly like the solution, 9€ and literally everyone was in the trains. Including a lot of folks with no idea how to behave in a communaly used train...

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JerryCalzone t1_iux4vor wrote

> Including a lot of folks with no idea how to behave in a communaly used train..

Same with how to behave in a cinema, doing trick and treating - i see a pattern here

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Mr-Korv t1_iuw8fmi wrote

In cities in Sweden, it's most people.

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Benji_Ba t1_iuwnl8f wrote

It's not only for trains but all public transportation in the city like tram and bus. I used to pay 70 bucks per month just for the city I live in and that was not even valid for the whole city.

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Reddit-runner t1_iux2lr8 wrote

Even if you only plan a 2-3 day visit to the next larger city it will be cheaper than the current options.

So it is definitely needed for many people.

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Gasur t1_iux6vjn wrote

In the west of Germany, there is a string of major cities more or less in a line stretching from north to south. Almost 32 million people live in these cities or their metropolitan areas. I imagine it would be super useful for people living there to only have to pay a modest monthly fee for unlimited usage of all those public transport systems.

I live in the UK, and in London there is a unified public transport service. When I have to go on business trips to other UK cities, there are usually many different bus companies and sometimes if I buy a daily ticket for one bus provider then I can only take their buses. I would love a unified national ticket like this.

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ScubaClimb49 t1_iux8s1l wrote

Not my country but I question the wisdom of stimulating demand for an highly energy-intensive service during an energy crisis

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wirtnix_wolf t1_iuxkz4r wrote

A car ist much Note Energy demanding than a teain. You move 1.5 tons for mostly one Person...think about that

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ScubaClimb49 t1_iuxqsoe wrote

A valid point but the counter is that nearly free transportation encourages people to travel in circumstances that they otherwise wouldn't. So it's not as simple as "well they're encouraging people to take public transit instead of drive."

I don't want to drive to Las Vegas this weekend but if you give me a free plane ticket I'm on it.

−2

NorwayNarwhal t1_iuy6hfa wrote

The trains will run regardless of how full they are, though

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ZiamschnopsSan t1_iux68oj wrote

You forget to mention that Germany public transport is dogshit and I wouldn't use it if they paid me 49 bucks a month

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DaveyJonesXMR t1_iux81mc wrote

Now thats bullshit. For german standards of the past it may be dogshit... internationaly it's still one of the most liked public transport systems worldwide. Esp most things not ICE/IC.

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ZiamschnopsSan t1_iux8wcf wrote

Lmao German public transport is never on time never drives where you need to go smells like a rest stop bathroom is full of crackhead and is overpriced.

No German likes their public transport system.

−12

nebendachs OP t1_iux9t6a wrote

So you complain about the punctuality, availability, smell, clientele and price of the service, yet now that they’re addressing one of these points in a mayor way you still complain? Do want a better service or do you just want to bitch about the existing one?

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Esava t1_iv0csem wrote

I like it here in Hamburg and surrounding area. The by far largest issue with it were the prices (several hundreds euro per month for some of the tickets). That point has been solved. 49€ is cheaper than the cheapest available monthly ticket just for the city of Hamburg so far.

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Pyrollusion t1_iuvgmvq wrote

That ticket is a joke compared to what it was before.

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DaveyJonesXMR t1_iuvh831 wrote

Still cheaper than any other regional monthly tickets... and this one is nationwide

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Holothuroid t1_iuvxmtn wrote

Massively cheaper. I easily pay 40 bucks for going to the next larger city and back. Once.

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LinaFinsterwald t1_iuvzgr7 wrote

Exactly! Very stoked about the ticket myself

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AndyPanic t1_iuw06xh wrote

Same. Now we only need more trains and more busses.

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willie_caine t1_iuwny89 wrote

You're getting it! The government and DB have outlined how they'll spend tens of billions on infrastructure and capacity upgrades over the coming years.

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GreatRyujin t1_iuw47mf wrote

Stop bitching about everything just because it could've been better.
Living in a democracy inevitably comes with compromise and this is a historic step and should be celebrated!

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JerryCalzone t1_iuw7swx wrote

I just moved outside of Berlin and would have to pay 142 Euro or so a month under the old rules (2 Landeskreise + Berlin ABC) - so this is a godsend

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