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Berlin transport network launches flexi-ticket for post-pandemic travel

The VBB-Flexticket for Berlin’s BVG and S-Bahn aims to give riders more flexible travel options during - and after - the Covid pandemic.

Published: 4 January 2022 11:09 CET
Single ticket for Berlin public transport
A passenger holds a single travel ticket for the Berlin transport network. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Lukas Schulze

Starting New Year’s Day, Berlin and Brandenburg’s VBB introduced its new Flexticket, offering transit riders more flexibility during a time when they might not be going into the office every day.

Designed for people who may be working from home a few times a week, the Flexticket comes in a pack of eight tickets valid for a period of 24 hours each, at a cost of €44 a pack.

It saves the rider more than three euros a ticket compared to buying eight individual day passes, almost €20 compared to the monthly fee a yearly subscription carries, and is nearly €40 cheaper than a monthly ticket bought at a BVG machine.

Passengers have 30 days to use the eight tickets, with unused ones losing their validity after that time.

“Perhaps the world will look different again in two or three years, but we now need flexible tariff offers,” said VBB Head Susanne Henckel in a press release.

READ ALSO: German public transport slammed as ‘failure’ as half of users switch to car

The Flexticket is valid only in the Berlin AB zones and can only be purchased in online or in a BVG or S-Bahn customer service centre. Riders can’t buy them at machines.

It will stay in a pilot phase until December 2023.

 

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TRANSPORT

Denmark confirms latest extension of Germany border controls

Denmark’s temporary controls on the border with Germany have again been extended for a new six-month term.

Published: 12 April 2024 14:34 CEST
Denmark confirms latest extension of Germany border controls

The latest extension to the border controls was confirmed by Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard in a ministry press statement on Friday.

The existing borders controls would have expired in May had they not been extended.

“The safety and security of Danes is a core priority for the government. It is the view of the government that the current level of threat makes it necessary to retain the temporary border controls with Germany,” Hummelgaard said in the statement.

Although technically a temporary measure, the Danish border controls have been extended many times and have been in place in some form since 2016.

Although Denmark’s border controls have been continually extended, they were relaxed in May last year.

The relaxed rules mean that fewer motorists are now stopped for checks at the border when entering Denmark from Germany, compared to early 2023 and before. Instead, border controls are made in line with police assessments on where they are most needed.

Denmark’s repeated decisions to extend the controls have however raised concerns in the EU, which has initiated a review of whether the measure is legal.

Under the rules of the Schengen agreement, countries can place temporary border controls under exceptional circumstances. After a six-month period, the temporary checks must be renewed. 

Denmark initially introduced border checks with Germany in early 2016, citing the refugee crisis of late 2015 as justification. It later referred to a more general “security and migration situation” as cause for continually extending the controls, pointing to what it said was a threat of organised crime and terrorism.

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