The number of commuters in Germany is increasing. Employees are not only travelling longer and longer distances to get to work, but also commuting between two cities. Many of them use the train to do so. With the €49 ticket, which is valid throughout Germany, they now have a cheaper alternative to the normal job ticket, which is often limited to one city or municipality. Here is an overview of which trains commuters can use with the Deutschlandticket.
There are more and more commuters in Germany. In 2022, the number of commuters increased by around 700,000. This means that 20.3 million employees do not work in the municipality in which they live. This corresponds to 60 per cent of all employees and means that the majority of the population commutes. This is according to data from the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR).
People are travelling ever greater distances: the number of employees commuting more than 30 kilometres rose by half a million to 7.1 million. The number of employees with a commute of more than 50 kilometres increased from 3.6 to 3.9 million. This also increased the average one-way commute from 16.9 to 17.2 kilometres.
The economically strong metropolitan areas of Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg are particularly affected by increasing commuting distances. Rising rents and property prices as well as greater flexibility through working from home and other hybrid forms of work are making small and medium-sized towns further away in the region increasingly attractive places to live for employees.
Many of these cities have rail connections to the centres, making it worthwhile for many employees to switch to the train to get to work. The Deutschlandticket has recently made it easier for them.
The 49-euro ticket is valid nationwide on public transport. This includes urban buses, trams, underground and suburban trains and regional buses and regional trains (Regionalbahn, Regional Express, Interregio Express). Ferries can also be used with the Deutschlandticket if they are part of public transport, such as the harbour ferries in Hamburg or the Havel ferries in Berlin. It is also possible to use airport shuttle buses, such as the Lufthansa Express Bus to Munich Airport.
Many local transport routes extend beyond the city limits. These are the longest routes that commuters can travel with the 49-euro ticket without changing buses.
Interesting for commuters with long journeys to work: they can now also use regional express lines that are not operated by DB Regio but by DB Fernverkehr.
Intercity trains do run on these routes, but they are authorised for local transport tickets - and therefore also for the 49-euro job ticket.
However, the following applies to all other German long-distance routes: Deutschlandticket users must buy a separate long-distance ticket. This is because there is no upgrade function for the 49-euro ticket that allows you to use long-distance trains. In addition, D-Ticket users are not entitled to use ICE, IC or EC trains in the event of delays on local or regional services. Anyone wishing to switch to long-distance transport in this case must bear the additional costs themselves.
In addition, the Deutschlandticket is not valid on long-distance trains operated by foreign railway companies travelling in Germany. These include the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), the SNCF TGV, Thalys and the Berlin Night Express operated by the Swedish railway company Snälltåget. The 49-euro ticket is also not valid on any other night trains. The ticket is also not valid on Flixbus or Flixtrain.
Even if the 49-euro ticket is not valid on long-distance trains on foreign railways, D-Ticket users can still travel abroad. This is because the Deutschlandticket also allows you to travel abroad if the station there is part of the German tariff. This means you can travel to border stations in Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg and Poland.
