German parliamentarians on Thursday voted to approve plans to introduce a €49 public transport ticket. The vote primarily dealt with the issue of financing the plan, which is set to go on offer on May 1.

Accordingly, the federal government will spend €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) annually in the years 2023-2025. Beyond that, it will cover half the cost of introducing the scheme over the course of this year. Financing beyond 2025 is to be dealt with later.

Thursday's vote saw discussion about the general development of pricing for the initiative, with the €49 ($52) monthly cost set by politicians specifically declared as an introductory price that may be raised at a later date.

The €49 monthly ticket will be valid for all local train and bus transportation in Germany and comes on the heel of the summer's  extremely popular €9 ticket, which covered the local travel in June, July and August.

Federal Transportation Minister Volker Wissing of the governing coalition's Free Democratic Party (FDP) took to Twitter to laud the move, writing: "The Germany ticket is on the way. The largest public transportation reform in German history."

€49 ticket: Breakthrough or boondoggle?

"Millions of people will profit from this decision," gushed Dirk Flege, executive director of Alliance pro-Schiene (Pro-Rail Alliance), a rail use promoting transport association consisting of non-profits and railway sector companies.

Flege called the so-called Germany ticket "a real breakthrough" in what he otherwise described as "gloomy times for public transport."

Members of Berlin's governing coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP voted in favor of the ticket. Opposition Union parties (CDU/CSU) and the far-right AfD voted against the plan. The Left Party abstained from the vote.

Those voting against the bill pointed to concerns about the ultimate cost of the program and the negative impact it might have on financing the expansion and improvement of transportation infrastructure.

CDU/CSU transportation spokesman Thomas Bareiss scoffed at the Germany ticket, calling it a "government-ordered rebate that will cost taxpayers a pretty penny." Bareiss called the coalition's financing plan "unserious and unsustainable," saying the money would be sorely missed for other projects later.

Bareiss went on to warn, "Public transport service won't be improved, in some regions it may even get worse."

Germany's rails in a dire state

Reinhard Sager, president of the Association of German Counties (Deutscher Landkreistag), complained to Funke Media Group that the ticket does nothing to address "core problems facing a future-oriented and attractive public transportation system."

Low ticket prices alone, he said, cannot replace inadequate [transportation] supply.

A recent internal report by the Deutsche Bahn (DB), Germany's national rail service provider, found that much of its 33,000-kilometer (20,505-mile) infrastructure was in a poor state. The company says it needs around €89 billion for repairs and maintenance.

On Tuesday, Germany's Federal Audit Office confirmed that DB was in a state of permanent crisis. The office went on to criticize the federal government, which owns DB, saying "the government is far from resolving the problems" DB faces.

The Bundestag's €49 ticket bill will now go to the Bundesrat — the legislative body representing Germany's 16 states — for a vote on March 31, where it is expected to pass.

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js/sms (AFP, dpa)