Transport ministers have announced that the cost of a Deutschlandticket will increase by nine euros from 2025. Here’s everything you need to know about how the price hike will impact your monthly transport subscription.

Deutschlandticket to cost 58 euros monthly from 2025

Germany’s nationwide public transport ticket, the Deutschlandticket, will cost 58 euros per month from January 1, 2025.

Initially launched in May 2023 as the “49-euro ticket”, the pass allows holders unlimited access to public transport and regional trains across Germany.

"With this price, we will be able to keep the ticket attractive and put its financing on a more solid footing,” Transport Minister for North Rhine-Westphalia Oliver Kirschner (Greens) announced on September 23.

If you would like to keep your Deutschlandticket for 2025, you do not currently need to do anything, just prepare for the fact that the monthly subscription payments that Deutsche Bahn takes from your bank account will increase from December 2024.

If you would like to cancel your subscription now that the price rise has been announced, you can find out more information below.

How much will a Deutschlandticket Job cost in 2025?

Alongside the current, standard 49-euro Deutschlandticket which is available to everyone in Germany, there is a so-called Deutschlandticket Job subscription.

With the Deutschlandticket Job, companies in Germany with more than five employees can pay a monthly contribution so that their employees can get a Deutschlandticket at a discounted rate of at least 34,30 euros. Employers must contribute at least 25 percent of the cost of their employees’ monthly tickets but can choose to subsidise more, and transport companies add a further 5 percent subsidy.

Deutsche Bahn has yet to confirm how the Deutschlandticket price hike will change the cost of a Jobticket. However, according to Transport Minister for Saarland Petra Berg, employees will be able to get a Deutschlandticket at a discounted rate of at least 40,60 euros per month.

How much will a Deutschland-Semesterticket cost? 

The Deutschlandticket price rise will also impact Semestertickets. Students in Germany are entitled to a reduced fare ticket for public transport in their city or local area, which they pay for via their semester fees.

So that students could also benefit from the Deutschlandticket, in November 2023 the German government announced that the ticket would be even cheaper for students, at 29,40 euros per month for nationwide public and regional transport.

Due to the general Deutschlandticket price hike, this monthly payment will rise to 34,80 euros, according to Berliner Morgenpost. However, this new tariff will only apply from November 2025, when the winter semester of 2025 / 2026 begins.

VdK calls for a 29-euro, low-income Deutschlandticket

In response to the Deutschlandticket price rise, the social welfare association Sozialverband VdK has called on the German government to introduce a reduced-price Deutschlandticket for low-income people.

VdK President Verena Bentele pointed out that those receiving a state pension or Bürgergeld unemployment benefits cannot afford a ticket for 58 euros per month.

As such, the VdK has proposed the government introduce a 29-euro Deutschlandticket for low-income people, but Berlin is yet to respond.

What alternatives to the Deutschlandticket are available?

While the Deutschlandticket is available in all federal states, some states, city-states and cities have their own additional alternatives, which only residents in those states can purchase but can be used nationwide.

The federal state of Hesse already has a similar system to that proposed by the VdK, where people who claim certain social security benefits are entitled to a reduced-fare Deutschlandticket, called the “Hessen-Pass-Mobil”, for 31 euros per month.

In Hanover, the Deutschlandticket Job is available for a flat rate of around 30 euros, as opposed to 34,30 euros per month.

In Saarland, there is the “Junge-Leute-Ticket”, which is available to schoolchildren, apprentices and Freiwilligendienst volunteers for 30,40 euros per month and can be used nationwide on public and regional transport.

In Berlin, locals can pay a flat rate of 29 euros per month in an annual subscription for public transport in the A and B zones of the city, or opt for the Deutschlandticket for ABC and nationwide regional travel.

How to cancel your Deutschlandticket subscription

How you can cancel your Deutschlandticket subscription depends on which platform you initially used to buy your ticket. 

If you purchased it through Deutsche Bahn, you must cancel your subscription by the 10th of the current month to avoid paying a subscription into the next month. 

For example, you must cancel your ticket by December 10, 2024, if you do not want to pay the new, 58 euro tariff from January onwards. The same rules apply if you purchased your ticket via the app for the transport association in Hamburg, hvv Switch.

If you bought your ticket through Berlin’s transport association, the BVG, you must cancel your subscription by the 25th of the month.

If you bought your ticket via the mo.pla app, you can cancel it anytime during the current month to avoid paying into the next month.

Thumb image credit: Markus Mainka / Shutterstock.com