Central Thuringia Transport Association

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Logo VMT
Mobile ticket

The traffic group Mittelthüringen is a traffic group of public transport ( PT ) in the middle Thuringia . It includes the cities of Erfurt , Weimar , Jena and Gera as well as the districts of Gotha , Weimarer Land and Saale-Holzland-Kreis .

Verkehrsgemeinschaft Mittelthüringen GmbH is responsible for the Central Thuringia transport association . As part of the transport association was association tariff central Thuringia (briefly VMT or Regiomobil ticket ) introduced, which for trains and trams as well as several bus lines in the independent cities of Erfurt , Weimar , Jena and Gera and in county Weimar area with the city of Apolda applies . The tariff merger came about primarily because of the high number of passengers and commuters between the four cities.

The network tariff came into effect on April 1, 2006, replacing the RegioMobil tariff, which was a test predecessor of Deutsche Bahn. The price of the tickets is based on the tariff zones to be traveled through. With the ticket you can use the Deutsche Bahn , Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland , Süd-Thüringen-Bahn and Erfurter Bahn railways , regional local transport in the cities and intercity bus services from municipal and private transport companies in the network area.

With the timetable change in February 2009, validators were introduced at the stations in the network area, so that the regulation, which some customers felt was impractical, namely to sell tickets only for immediate travel, was dropped.

On December 12, 2010, the VMT was expanded to include the Saale-Holzland district , the remaining parts of the Weimarer Land district , the Gotha district and the city of Gera . In addition, the railway lines to Bad Langensalza and individual bus lines to Sömmerda , Zeitz , Neustadt an der Orla , Rudolstadt , Oberhof , Schmalkalden and Eisenach are included in the network tariff. With the timetable change in December 2020, the expansion of the network area to the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and the Saale-Orla district is planned.

Tariff zones

The Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen is divided into 106 tariff zones. There are four city tariff zones Erfurt (10), Weimar (20), Jena (30), Gera (40) and 102 regional tariff zones.

Railway lines

The following railway lines are completely or in sections in the network area:

Participating transport companies

Bus / tram:

Train:

statistics

  • Residents in the network area (Erfurt, Weimar, Weimarer Land, Jena)
    • 2005: 451 058
    • 2007: 457 032
    • 2011: 1 163 844
  • Persons transported per year (estimate)
    • 2005 and 2007: 48,000,000
  • Passenger kilometers per year (estimate)
    • 2005 and 2007: 300,000,000 (average 6.25 km / person / trip)
  • Train stations, stops, stops
    • 2005: 871
    • 2007: 811
  • vehicles
    • 2005: 519
    • 2007: 500
  • Lines
    • 2005 and 2007: 104, including 12 train, 13 tram, 43 city, 36 intercity bus routes
  • Integrated transport companies
    • 2005 and 2007: 8
    • 2011: 13

criticism

General criticism

Both the design of the tariffs, which are perceived as unsuitable for needs, and the compulsion to use the network tariff, which prevents consumer-friendly options, are criticized. Most of the rail traffic in the network area takes place on the Erfurt – Weimar – Jena axis. Here again the proportion of only train passengers is very high. Since the introduction of the association tariff, this customer group has been confronted with sometimes drastic price increases without making use of a corresponding service. In the rest of the network area beyond the main axis, which is characterized by strong regional breakdown, the local transport offer is often no alternative to individual transport, so that the positive aspects of a network tariff cannot develop in the desired way here either. The criticism is borne by the Pro Bahn passenger association and is now also taking shape in initiatives by local transport users.

BahnCard 50 holders

The initial non-recognition of BahnCard 25 and 50 resulted in price increases for owners of these cards. The price difference between regional train and ICE on the Erfurt – Weimar route for a BahnCard 50 customer was just 0.85 euros. This led to an undesirable use of the ICEs between Erfurt and Weimar by local transport customers.

A 25% BahnCard discount was therefore introduced on January 1, 2008. This is granted to holders of the BahnCard 25 or BahnCard 50 when traveling through at least two tariff zones. The BahnCard 100 is recognized as an annual ticket on trains and in urban transport in Erfurt, Weimar, Jena and Gera. A 25% discount applies to all BahnCards on regional bus services.

For BahnCard 50 holders, pure train journeys can lead to the curiosity that longer journeys that break out of the network or long-distance journeys are cheaper than journeys at the network tariff. There are two reasons for this. The network tariff includes possible bus and tram journeys and the transport companies involved in the network receive only a small amount of compensation for recognizing the BahnCards.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Saale-Orla-Kreis join the VMT for the timetable change. otz.de, August 25, 2020, accessed on August 27, 2020 .
  2. ^ History. PVG mbH Weimarer Land, accessed on May 21, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Price development since the introduction of the Central Thuringia network tariff. Archived from the original on February 12, 2013 ; accessed on February 6, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Press release of the Pro-Bahn regional association Thuringia. April 10, 2008, accessed February 7, 2014 .