The German Federal Railways, Deutsche BahnThe aim is to encourage the use of digital tickets. This translates into suspension of paper ticket sales on the trains. Paper banknotes will be phased out by 2022.
Since the end of April, passengers using Deutsche Bahn trains have no longer been able to buy tickets from the ticket inspector if they are travelling at the last minute. This decision was taken by DB for two reasons. lighten the workload for controllers. Their role is now more focused on services and assistance to users. It also encourages passengers to encourage the digital purchase of tickets.
At the same time, Deutsche Bahn has modified the purchasing rules. It offers more flexibility to these last-minute travellers. They can now board a train without a ticket and buy their journey within 10 minutes of the departure time.
The elimination of the paper ticket at the ticket office only applies to trains on main lines. It has to be said that this service was very little used. It accounted for less than 1% of all sales. On the other hand, the purchase of a ticket in advance is maintained for the equivalent of TER/RER (S-Bahn) or regional trains (R).
DB's goal is to go all-digital. According to the German press, this change should come into force on 1 January 2010. from January 2022. From that date, long-distance trains - including ICEs - will no longer have paper tickets. But what about passengers without smartphones?
