Ralf Damde, the chair of DB Regio’s total works council, told the RTL‑ and ntv‑program “Frühstart” on Friday that Germany should operate with only one tariff‑collecting transport association.
“Germany has dozens of transport unions that are inefficient. One should be enough” he said.
Damde argued that a single fare union – backed by the Deutschlandticket – would free up 1.4 to 1.5 billion euros. “Those savings could be redirected to safety measures and system upgrades” he explained. He added that the federal government and the states have not yet been willing to adopt this approach.
He also called for more federal police officers stationed at train stations. “When it takes an hour and a half or more for the Bundespolizei to arrive after being called, that is unacceptable” he said. To address travel times and response delays, Damde urged the creation of security partnerships between the federal government and the states.
Damde cautioned that the Bundespolizei is spread thin, working overtime to cover duties such as covering major football matches – “the Bundesliga games, which are not even the worst cases. The worst situations occur in the Regionalliga”.
