The Federal Association of Local Rail Transport has made a dramatic appeal to Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP). Without additional money from the federal government, the range of local public transport would have to be reduced by up to 30 percent, which would lead to job cuts in the transport companies. Alternatively, according to current estimates, ticket prices would have to be increased by around 20 percent. This emerges from a letter from the association to Wissing, which is available to WELT.
The state transport ministers are meeting on Friday to talk about perspectives for public transport and a possible successor solution to the 9-euro ticket. Although Wissing had described the nationwide local transport ticket as a success, his party colleague, Finance Minister Christian Lindner, has so far ruled out financing a follow-up ticket from the federal government.
In its letter, however, the Federal Rail Association is not even concerned with additional costs for a possible continuation of the 9-euro ticket, but with additional money for the regular operation of local public transport in the next few years. The federal states are actually responsible for financing public transport, the federal government only participates in the form of so-called regionalization funds. The amount has been debated for months.
In the coalition agreement at the federal level, the traffic light government has actually committed itself to the goal of doubling passenger transport by rail by 2030. “In order to be able to even come close to achieving these goals, the offer would have to be massively expanded,” says the association’s letter.
“However, we are currently faced with the situation that, given the sharply rising costs in many areas, the status quo for the period after 2023 is not even secured – not to mention the expansion of offers, which would be so important for the implementation of the coalition’s transport policy goals .”
The association lists the most important cost increases in recent years: This year alone, the cost of electricity has risen by 60 percent and that of diesel by 45 percent. Already from 2020 to 2021 one had to cope with increases of 42.5 percent in electricity and 26 percent in diesel. “Due to the highly volatile market environment, a serious estimate of the cost increases for the years from 2023 is hardly possible,” says the letter to the ministry.
The procurement of additional trains has also become significantly more expensive. According to the association, purchase prices have risen by 20 to 30 percent. In addition, there are personnel costs, which increased by 3.5 percent between 2020 and 2021 and by three percent from 2021 to 2022.
Significantly higher rates of increase can be expected for this cost pool in the future due to the high level of inflation. “Due to the high general rate of inflation, it can be assumed that the collective bargaining agreements for the next year will be well over three percent,” it says. “In the energy sector, there is also the risk of having to continue to expect significant double-digit growth rates for 2023.”
However, so far only an automatic increase in regionalization funds of 1.8 percent is planned. “The data presented above alone shows that we are already significantly underfinanced with today’s offer, since the fixed update rate of 1.8 percent is now consistently well below the inflation rates mentioned above,” writes the association.
There are basically three ways to compensate for the difference between the funds available today and the actual need: either the federal and state governments provide more money or the ticket prices increase massively, “according to current estimates by up to 20 percent” or a “massive (due to high proportion of fixed costs disproportionately) restriction of the offer by up to 30 percent”.
Such a reduction in public transport would have serious consequences: “We must emphasize that a restriction of the offer would also lead to a reduction in jobs,” the letter says. “From the consequences of Corona on the labor market, it can be deduced that it will be extremely difficult to rebuild the workforce at a later point in time.”
You are at a turning point. In order to prevent at least a reduction in the offer, the Wissing association calls on Lindner, together with the ministers of the federal states and the federal finance minister, “to maintain local rail transport at least to the current extent through adequate financing and to provide additional funds for at least a slight expansion of the offer “.
The Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) is also putting on pressure. “Public transport urgently needs new funds,” said Volker Wente, Managing Director of the NRW regional group. “Operating costs have risen dramatically recently. And the financing gap that has arisen and will continue to arise as a result must be closed. Otherwise, the transport companies have no other option but to reduce offers.” Wente is concerned that the political discussion is also moving in the direction of fare reductions without putting concrete proposals on the table for counter-financing. “I’m now very worried about public transport.”
The VDV also calls for significantly more dynamic regionalization funds. So far, the annual rate of increase has been 1.8 percent. “Companies are far from getting by with that. The rate must be significantly higher in order to at least compensate for inflation in the coming years,” says NRW Managing Director Wente. Especially since the topic of productivity progress has now been completely exhausted.
The associations receive support from the state transport ministers. “I share the fear that if the federal government does not significantly increase the regionalization funds, we will then have to talk about reductions,” said North Rhine-Westphalia’s department head Oliver Krischer (Greens) WELT. A solution to the financial problems of public transport is urgently needed, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is also willing to participate.
“But the federal government has to bear the brunt and I will also point this out at the special transport ministers’ conference,” he said. “The 9 euro ticket has shown that people accept the public transport offer.” It is now a question of ensuring the offer, in the medium and long term one also needs solutions for the huge investment requirements. “This is where the neoliberal investment policy of the last few decades is catching up with us,” said Krischer. “Private in front of the state has failed. Nowhere is this more evident than in rail infrastructure.”
It can be heard from the Federal Ministry of Transport that no solution is expected at the transport ministers’ conference on Friday, at least in the short term. Wissing has pointed out several times that he would like an overall solution before talking about additional money. This also includes a simplified structure of public transport, which currently consists of a patchwork of numerous different transport associations.
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