Why the 9-Euro Ticket?
In an effort to deal with increasing energy costs caused by the war in Ukraine, and to encourage Germans to use their cars less, and public transport more, the German government introduced a special discounted flat-rate monthly rail ticket valid anywhere in the entire country. Dubbed “9 for 90” (9 euros per month for 90 days), the Energy Cost Relief Package (estimated cost: €2.5 billion) subsidized the public rail and bus operators to make up for the lost ticket revenue. German citizens benefited, but so did summer tourists from Europe and all over the world.

December 2022 Update: On 7 December, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that the “Deutschlandticket” (inspired by the 9-eueo ticket) would indeed be coming in 2023. Other than the cost (49 euros) and the fact that the states and federal government had agreed to a 50/50 cost split, Scholz was unable to provide a definite date for the new monthly commuter ticket’s arrival. See The Deutschlandticket for more.

Critics, including the German Tourism Association, claimed das Neun-Euro-Ticket would result in overcrowded buses, trams, commuter rail, and regional trains – a strain on an already stressed system. (And at times it did.) They also claimed the resulting reduction in car use would be only temporary, and limited to larger cities. (Also true.) What was really needed, they said, were true improvements to public transport service, such as faster and better connections. (The 9-euro ticket experience also proved that to be true.) But the 9-euro ticket arrived on June 1, and it was an interesting experiment on a national scale that ended on the last day of August 2022.

Riding a tram in Germany, like this one in Berlin, was a true bargain with the 9-euro monthly ticket in June, July, and August 2022. PHOTO: Hyde Flippo

How Did the Special Ticket Work?
Never offered before, the innovative 9-euro ticket was valid for an entire month between June 1 and 31 August 2022 – for the months of June, July and August. Each ticket was valid for only one calendar month, no matter when it is purchased. That means that whether you bought your nine-euro ticket on June 1 or June 15, the ticket expired at the end of June. In order to ride the bus, rail, trams, or metro in July or August, you needed to buy another nine-euro ticket for that month. If you used the flat-rate ticket for all three months, the total cost was 27 euros (3 x 9 euros; less than $30 USD at the time).

That meant that for nine euros, less than a ten-dollar bill ($9.65 USD in June 2022) you could travel anywhere and at any time for an entire month using local and regional public transportation. There were only a few restrictions. The 9-euro ticket was not valid on long-distance trains (EC, IC, high-speed ICE) or long-distance buses. Nor was it valid for first-class on regional trains (RB, RE), or for a bike or a dog on systems that normally charge for that. A separate ticket was required. Other than those few limits, your nine-euro ticket entitled you to go anywhere in Germany, using public transport, as often as you wanted, for a calendar month. Children under six already traveled free. Those age six and up needed a nine-euro ticket. A family of four with two children over six required four 9-euro tickets for travel in a given month.
MORE: See Train Travel in Germany for more rail travel information, including the RB, RE, IC, ICE, and other train abbreviations.

A 9-euro monthly ticket bought in Berlin could be used on public transport there and anywhere else in Germany. If you were in Munich or Hamburg, the ticket you bought in Berlin was valid there as well. You could ride the bus, tram, or metro anywhere in Germany with a 9-euro ticket bought anywhere in Germany. The only restrictions were those already mentioned above.

If You Already Had a Discounted Subscription?
For those people who already had an annual or monthly local/regional subscription, each transport association was supposed to notify them as to the procedure for a refund or discount. Although it was supposed to happen automatically, there are reports of subscribers in some places not receiving a refund in a timely manner.

The 9-euro ticket was not valid for travel on German high-speed ICE (Intercity Express) trains like this one at Frankfurt’s central station. PHOTO: Hyde Flippo

Traveling Longer Distances With the 9-Euro Ticket
Despite the limitations placed on the 9-euro ticket, some people worked out ways to travel across Germany using the new flat-rate ticket. As long as you stayed with regional routes, didn’t mind frequent train changes, and weren’t in a big hurry, it was feasible to travel longer distances for only 9 euros a month per person. That also brought about concern over possible crammed trains and hordes of people who would not normally be on them. And that did happen at times.

Buying the 9-Euro Ticket
The new flat-rate monthly ticket was available for purchase on 20 May 2022 for use beginning on the first day of June. Purchasing the 9-euro ticket was the same as for any other public transport system ticket using ticket machines or a ticket counter. You could also buy the special ticket using a mobile phone app. Local public transport websites also offered the tickets. Deutsche Bahn’s Navigator app offered the new 9-euro ticket as part of its other functions. There were links, in English or German, to DB’s app information pages, which also linked to the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Huawei’s App Gallery:
DB APP (DE): DB Navigator (in German)
DB APP (EN): DB Navigator (in English)

In general, most people were happy with the 9-euro experiment. It worked better than the naysayers had said it would, but it also demonstrated some of the weaknesses in the German public transport system, despite the German system being far better than systems in other nations. The result is many Germans (and tourists) asking: “What comes next?” Whatever it is, it won’t be as much of a bargain as the 9-euro ticket, that cost a lot of taxpayer money.

Berlin’s New 29-Euro Ticket
The city-state of Berlin was one of the first public transport networks to step forward with a new special fare proposal. Its 29-euro ticket is valid for one month of travel in the city’s A and B zones. Unlike the 9-euro ticket, it is only available as a season subscription (Abo) for the period between October 1 to December 31, 2002. It is also only available in Berlin. Surrounding Brandenburg, also part of the Berlin’s VBB transport association, decided not to be part of the new plan, excluding the outlying Zone C from the new fare. In fact Brandenburg at first tried to block the new fare proposal entirely.

So we’ll see what happens in Berlin and other parts of Germany as time goes on. The new Germany-wide €49 Deutschlandticket was supposed to start in January 2023, but that date has been pushed back. Only time will tell when the new discount ticket plan will begin.

More | Public Transport in Germany
More | Train Travel in Germany

Related Pages
AT THE GERMAN WAY

• The 49-euro Deutschlandticket was inspired by the earlier 9-euro ticket. Learn more about that model.
• Train Travel – Introduction – Riding the rails in Europe
• Public Transport in Germany – Getting around locally via S-Bahn, U-Bahn, bus, and tram
• Castles and Palaces in Germany – Guides to castles and palaces in Germany
• City Guides: Germany – Guides for Berlin, Potsdam, Frankfurt, Munich, Dresden, Trier