Train connection: Bavaria does poorly in the survey
Munich – The Bavarian state government likes to present its country as the prime among the countries – top in all areas. But when it comes to mobility, the self-image of the state government does not match the image of the citizens. In a representative survey, only 58 percent of Bavarians say that they feel well connected to buses and trains.
42 percent of Bavarians dissatisfied
Conversely, this means that 42 percent are not. Only in Rhineland-Palatinate and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania do people feel left behind.
The Pro-Rail Alliance, the German Road Safety Council and the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) asked about the evaluation of local transport. In the neighboring state of Baden-Württemberg, the mood is different.
Nice here, but have you ever been to Baden-Württemberg?
The people there are more satisfied with the availability of buses and trains. Two thirds say they are well connected, one third feels the opposite. This puts the Ländle exactly on the German average.
“Every third German is dissatisfied with the public transport connection. This finding is politically highly relevant because the republic has been talking about 9-euro or 49-euro tickets for weeks,” says Dirk Flege, head of the Pro-Rail Alliance. According to Flege, if the 49-euro ticket is to be a success, there would have to be significantly more buses and trains than before.
No buses to the train station
From his point of view, the connection to the train stations by bus is completely inadequate in large parts of the country. Exceptions among the countries are the metropolises of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen, in each of which nine out of ten have accepted the offer.
With the 49-euro ticket, the state is making bus and train travel cheaper. That costs a lot of money, which is missing when expanding the offer. The federal government has granted the federal states an additional billion for local and regional transport for the coming year. So far it’s around 10 billion euros.
Means of transport used too sporadically
Flege does not believe that the funds provided are sufficient to improve the offer, despite the increase. “It will alone to maintain the existing supply.” The survey also shows that the majority of people do not perceive the distance to the next stop as too far, but rather that the bus or train runs there too seldom.
Does the government take climate protection seriously?
The new chairman of the railway workers’ union EVG, Martin Burkert, sees the state government in Bavaria as having a duty to accelerate the expansion of local and regional transport. “Investments are needed in public transport and local rail transport. This is the only way Bavaria can show that it takes climate protection seriously,” Burkert told the AZ.
Increasing the frequency could not only fail due to a lack of money, but also due to a lack of drivers. Bus drivers are in short supply, especially in Bavaria. BUND managing director Antje von Broock demands higher pay and better working conditions for the drivers. “You also have to consider the people who come to us from other countries and start a training offensive,” said von Broock.
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