Berlin. New single ticket for public transport for a period of one month for the whole country, costing 49 euros, was launched yesterday Germany, as of Sunday, more than three million citizens had already pre-registered. The ticket can also be used tourists in the country and gives access to the entire network of regional railways, buses, trams and subways of German cities and provinces.

The “German ticket” (Deutschlandticket), which the government calls a “communications revolution”, is expected to increase the use of public transport and thus fuel consumption. Despite last year’s pilot program single monthly ticket The 9 euros proved to be particularly popular among the population, the government considered them financially unviable.

Until now, navigating the German public transport network has been an unsolvable puzzle for both tourists and German citizens due to dozens of offers from so many local public transport operators.

However, the new ticket will not apply to intercity trains, although holders will be able to cross the country on the equally reliable but slower local rail network. This measure is especially beneficial for those workers who live far from their place of work and are forced to spend significant amounts on monthly tickets under the old distance-based pricing system. However, German trade unions and organizations opposed to economic inequality have hit back, arguing that the price of a single ticket is too high and should be reduced for special categories of citizens such as families and young people.

The financing of the new measure had been troubling the government for several months, and for this reason it had significantly delayed its adoption. The agreement reached between the federal government and the Länder states that both parties will contribute 1.5 billion euros each to financially support the initiative so as not to burden the already exorbitant debt of Germany’s state railways.

The spending was heavily criticized by the opposition, with CDU MP Michael Dodd arguing that the funds should have been used to upgrade and improve the railway infrastructure. The government estimates that the country’s rail network will require an annual investment of 8.6 billion euros over the next ten years to keep it safe.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat Infrastructure Minister Volker Wissing did not rule out a possible increase in the price of the “German ticket” in the future to ensure its financial viability.