The Guardian view on cheap train travel: a lesson from Germany

theguardian.com:

The decision by one of the country’s main train operators to reduce services on the west coast mainline offers the latest evidence of deep malaise in the rail industry. Citing staff shortages and “the current industrial relations climate”, Avanti West Coast has put an emergency timetable in place, severely restricting the number of inter-city trains serving the north-west and Scotland. Aslef train drivers went on strike on Saturday. This week, the RMT union will resume its strike action over job security, pay and conditions, as the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, seeks to impose cuts of £2bn a year on a sector struggling to return to pre-Covid passenger numbers. It is a bleak picture and, given the vital role of public transport in reducing carbon emissions, a depressing one. But a glance at the rest of Europe suggests it really doesn’t have to be this way.

In Germany, this has been the summer of the train. In June, the SPD-led coalition government introduced a heavily subsidised and wildly popular €9 monthly public transport pass, designed to get people out of cars and, at the same time, ease the cost of living crisis. In June alone, 31 million people bought one. The most recent data indicates a doubling of short-distance train journeys between 30km and 100km, compared with pre-Covid levels. One in five passengers appear to have taken the opportunity to use public transport regularly for the first time.

Similarly bold experiments are taking place elsewhere, driven by the long-term goal of reducing carbon emissions and the short-term need to mitigate the impact of soaring fuel costs. In Spain, another socialist-led coalition administration is introducing free rail travel for commuters from September until the end of the