A young man who said he had used it to travel more than 11,500 kilometers across Germany asked why Lindner’s liberals were blocking the extension of the three-month programme. “You traveled 11,000 kilometers on 27 euros?” Lindner replied. “This is simply not sustainable.” The cheap ticket scheme was part of a €30 billion package of relief measures unveiled by Chancellor Olaf Solz in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was designed to kill two birds with one stone — softening the blow of rising inflation and the looming cost-of-living crisis, while tackling climate change by encouraging people to get out of cars. Other countries have made similar moves. In Spain, travel on parts of the state-run Renfe rail network will be free from September 1 until the end of the year. Austria has been running a “climate ticket” since November that costs €1,095 a year and covers train, metro and bus networks in cities — and everywhere in between. Some 30 million people took up the German offer, more than a third of the population, and Scholz described it as “one of the best ideas we’ve ever had”. Marion Jungbluth, travel expert at consumer association VZBV, said “the enthusiasm people have shown for this is absolutely unprecedented”.

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Germany was famous for its fiendishly complex ticketing machines and ticket pricing structures, which varied greatly from region to region, he explained, but the €9 ticket did away with that. “So many people took up the offer because it was so easy to buy,” he said. However, its success put Scholz’s government in a dilemma. The scheme, which cost Berlin 2.5 billion euros, was only meant to run from June 1 to the end of August, but has proved so popular that Germans may struggle to return to normal ticket prices once it ends. Many are now calling for a postponement. Lindner, leader of the pro-business Lib Dems, who are part of Soltz’s three-party coalition, is staunchly opposed. He told the man at the public event last week that it would cost 14 billion euros to run the program for a full year — money that would be much better spent “modernizing Germany’s damaged rail network and expanding capacity.” Pascal Meiser, an MP for the hard-left Linke party, said that view ignored polling data showing huge support for the policy. “It is remarkable how reliably Lindner manages to misjudge the mood in the country,” he told Der Spiegel. Others question whether it was as successful as some claim. Lars Feld, an economics professor at the University of Freiburg who advises Lindner, said this resulted in “overcrowded trains that caused delays and affected the long-distance rail network”. People arrive at a train platform at the Hauptbahnhof train station during the Whitsunday weekend on June 4, 2022 in Munich, Germany © Leonhard Simon/Getty Images Indeed, at least in the first few weeks, Germany’s transport system was under enormous strain. Images on social media showed crowded platforms, packed trains with standing room only and passengers in tatters. Feld said it was clear more people were using public transport “but it was almost entirely additional demand – there was no movement of traffic from road to rail”. “So the environmental goals were not met,” he said. Others dispute it. “Initial data showed that in some cities there was less congestion while the plan was in place,” said Stefan Gelbaar, the Green Party’s transport spokesman. “When the offer and the price are right, people really switch to public transport.” Indeed, a poll cited by Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned German rail operator, showed that a fifth of those who bought the discounted ticket had never used buses, trains and trams before. The program also helped fight inflation, which the Bundesbank said could reach 10% by autumn. “Our calculations show that it reduced inflation by 0.7 percentage points,” said Sebastian Dullien, director of research at the Hans Böckler Foundation’s Macroeconomic Policy Institute. It has also brought relief to hard-pressed households. “A family of four in Hamburg where the parents take the subway to work and the kids take the bus to school really saves a lot of money,” Dalien said. For this reason, he argued, it should be extended “until next summer, or at least until energy prices start to fall.”

Others agree. The Association of German Transport Companies has proposed replacing it with a €69 per month ticket, which will again be valid for the whole country. The Greens, who are also part of Scholz’s coalition, favor a two-tier model, with a ticket of 29 euros for regional travel and 49 euros for travel across Germany. Politicians are finding creative solutions to finance an expansion. Lars Klingbeil, leader of Scholz’s Social Democrats, told ZDF TV he wanted to see a windfall tax to pay for a successor to the €9 ticket — “just like the one in Spain.” Lindner has rejected this idea. Demands for a continuation are partly fueled by fears that ticket prices will skyrocket as soon as the €9 ticket scheme ends. “Some transport companies have announced that they will have to raise prices before the end of the year,” said Jungbluth. “If that happens, everything that has been achieved with the €9 ticket will be destroyed.”