Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen


Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen is a public transport association in the middle of Thuringia, Germany. It comprises the cities of Erfurt, Weimar and Jena and Gera as well as parts of the districts of Weimarer Land, Sömmerda, Gotha, Ilm-Kreis, Saale-Holzland-Kreis and Burgenlandkreis.
The transport association Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen is supported by Verkehrsgemeinschaft Mittelthüringen GmbH . As part of this transport association, the Verbundtarif Mittelthüringen was introduced, which applies to trains and trams as well as various bus routes in the independent cities of Erfurt, Weimar, Jena and Gera and in the district of Weimarer Land with the city of Apolda. The tariff merger was mainly due to the high number of passengers and commuters between the four cities.

History

The tariff came into force on April 1, 2006, replacing the RegioMobil tariff, which was a predecessor of Deutsche Bahn. The price of the tickets depends on the tariff zones to be crossed. With the ticket, trains of DB Regio, Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland, Süd-Thüringen-Bahn and Erfurter Bahn, the regional public transport in the cities as well as the intercity bus services of the municipal and private transport companies in the network area can be used.
When the timetable was changed in February 2009, validators were introduced at the stations in the tariff area, so that the rule that all tickets had already been validated, which some customers found impractical, no longer applied.
On 12 December 2010, the VMT was extended to include the Saale-Holzland-Kreis, the remaining parts of the Weimarer Land district, the Gotha district and the city of Gera. In addition, the railway lines to Bad Langensalza as well as individual bus lines to Sömmerda, Zeitz, Neustadt an der Orla, Rudolstadt, Oberhof, Schmalkalden and Eisenach are included in the integrated tariff.

Fare zones

Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen is divided into 106 tariff zones. There are four city tariff zones: Erfurt, Weimar, Jena, Gera and 102 regional tariff zones.

Railway lines

The following railway lines are complete or sectional in the tariff area:

Railway companies

General criticism

Criticism has been levelled at both the tariffs, which are perceived as not being in line with demand, as well as the obligation to apply the association tariff, which prevents consumer-friendly choices. The majority of rail traffic in the tariff area takes place on the Erfurt-Weimar-Jena axis. Here, in turn, the proportion of only rail drivers is very high. Since the introduction of the integrated tariff, this customer group has been confronted with sometimes drastic price increases without making use of a corresponding service. In the rest of the integrated area beyond the main axis, which is characterized by a strong regional breakdown, the local transport offer often does not represent an alternative to individual transport, so that the positive aspects of an integrated tariff cannot unfold in the desired way either. The criticism is supported by the Pro Bahn passenger association and is now also being expressed in initiatives by local transport users.

BahnCard-50 holder

The initial non-recognition of the BahnCard 25 and 50 led to price increases for holders of these cards. The price difference between regional trains and ICE trains on the Erfurt-Weimar route was only 0.85 euros for a BahnCard 50 customer. This led to unwanted use of the ICE between Erfurt and Weimar by local transport customers.
A 25% BahnCard discount was therefore introduced on 1 January 2008. This is granted to holders of the BahnCard 25 or BahnCard 50 when travelling through at least two tariff zones. The BahnCard 100 is recognised as an annual ticket on trains and in city traffic in Erfurt, Weimar, Jena and Gera. A 25% discount applies to all BahnCards on regional bus services.
For BahnCard-50 holders, a curiosity may arise in the case of pure train journeys that longer journeys or long-distance journeys that break away from the network are cheaper than journeys at the network tariff. There are two reasons for this. The group tariff includes possible bus and tram journeys and the transport companies participating in the group receive only a small compensation for the recognition of the BahnCards.