Germany's plan to encourage tourists to travel more by train by lowering the price to 9 euros (about 500 rubles) has shown its first results. Such data was published by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) for June, the first month of grace for travelers.
The analysis took into account trips of 30 km or more. At the end of the month, experts concluded that there was a surge in interest in rail travel based on a special assessment of mobile network data. “In June 2022, rail transport in Germany was on average 42 percent higher than in June 2019. In May 2022, they were three percent higher than in May 2019,” the agency said in a statement.
The same report showed that rail transport was in huge demand in June 2022 compared to the same month in pre-COVID 2019. On the other hand, intra-German air transport experienced the sharpest decline, reaching 49 percent by the end of the month.
On June 1, Germany reduced the cost of a train ticket to 9 euros (about 500 rubles) and made it available to everyone who travels in second class. The purchased ticket is valid for one calendar month, while the preferential program as a whole will be valid until August 31. It was clarified that the ticket can be used in all types of public transport in Germany on any local or regional route. You can buy discount tickets an unlimited number of times. The only thing that upset the Germans was that the ticket does not apply to long-distance trains or buses making long journeys. It is noted that for those who bought tickets earlier, when there was no action yet, the state returned the difference that tourists paid in excess of the amount of 9 euros for these three summer months.
According to Deutsche Bahn AG, which is the national railway company of Germany, the increased tourist flow made it difficult for cyclists to move. Thus, restrictions have been imposed on fans of an environmentally friendly mode of transport: they are forbidden to travel to popular tourist destinations from 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning, as well as from 14:00 to 17:00 on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from -due to increased travel demand these days.
“On busy days, there may be increased demand for some local and regional trains and stations due to a €9 ticket. For safety reasons, the train crew may decide to no longer allow bicycles. Parking spaces cannot be reserved on local transport,” the company said in a statement.
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