Saxony increases funding for local public transport

Due to cost increases in local public transport, Saxony has promised its municipal transport associations additional money. The Saxon cabinet has cleared the way for around 337 million euros for the years 2024 to 2027, the Ministry of Transport announced in Dresden on Thursday. The ministry's ordinance on the financing of local public transport has been amended accordingly.

The Free State received the funding from the federal government. The federal government will provide the federal states with around 17.3 billion euros in additional regionalization funds from 2022 to 2031. The federal and state governments agreed on this at the beginning of November.

"This will give the special-purpose associations improved planning and funding security," said Transport Minister Martin Dulig (SPD). In view of the price increases, whether for energy or personnel costs, the associations were under enormous cost pressure. The aim of the funding is to avoid canceling local rail passenger transport services as far as possible.

The amended regulation also means that the so-called trainee ticket will no longer be offered from 31 July. The number of people using the ticket has fallen sharply since the introduction of the Deutschlandticket. According to the report, only around 6,000 trainees were still using the offer in March - a drop of almost 70 percent compared to the previous year.

The Deutschlandticket costs almost the same and is also valid throughout Germany. Dulig also called for more employers to contribute financially to the so-called Deutschlandjobticket. This would not only be more attractive for their employees in terms of price, it would also make companies more attractive on the job market.