Only a few hours remain before Germany’s supposed measure to make public transportation ultracheap comes to an end. As a matter of fact, it is only a matter of time before August 31 reaches its end.
And with that, Germany will have ended a dominant and commonly seen idea that was instituted in the first place to enable affordable public transport. Whether one was looking to board a train to Metzingen or Bempflingen, all that you had to do was to have purchased a month long train ticket that costed no more than nine Euros- you read that right- and that was that!
Alas, it’s coming to a halt.
The reason?
To fight inflation in Germany, perhaps a string of other measures have to be taken.
That is where the strongman of Europe is at in the current moment; amid economic uncertainty, the nation’s woes exacerbated by the fact that it is struck by spiralling inflation.
Though, the problems Germany faces aren’t related to some singular threat. There are several economic problems that the Olaf Scholz-led country will have to find a way to resolve. Among them happen to be- low wage growth, the risk of business in present-day and cross-border Europe, and importantly, an ageing society.
A country that, for the longest period of time served as Europe’s locomotive may surely have hit a hard lap where it’s working on worn out tyres if one could put it like that!
But the above told, the following is what Germany’s Deutsche Welle (aka DW.com) had to say about the 9-Euro ticket, an issue that may not really ahve worked wonders contrary to popular belief.
And if the rising inflation goes unchecked, it could well plunge the country into an ebb of darkness:
The measure, which German magazine Der Spiegel described as “the largest experiment Germany has ever undertaken on its local public transport system,” took people by surprise. The federal government announced it in March as part of a relief package developed to help consumers deal with record-high inflation.
Quick decisions are a rarity in German politics. Major policy moves generally follow long negotiation periods and lengthy consultations with experts and stakeholders.
The 9-euro ticket was an exception, taking even the transportation companies by surprise. As the pilot project wraps up on Wednesday, many are reflecting on the whirlwind summer and whether the nationwide ticket was a success.
Now, having said that, what seems to be yet another issue, also a largely unsolved one is how Germany plans to resolve the energy crisis at this time? Given that there’s no certainty as to the Russian-Ukrainian war ends, time’s running out for Germany (as also nations like Finland) to resolve the rising prices of energy.
Where do these countries get their energy supply from and at what cost given the clamour of war just doesn’t seem to end and Russia isn’t going to turn against its own decisions!
Surely, their (Finland, Germany) relations with Russia haven’t been quite as low (in the recent past) as what one finds today.