Linke on transport

In the long run, the Left aims for local public transport that everyone can use without a ticket and free of charge. As first steps it names discounted tickets for certain groups, offers for one euro a day and a statewide 28-euro ticket for young people. The Deutschlandticket (nationwide transit pass) is to stay and become cheaper.

Buses and trains should later be free for everyone. Until then, there should be cheap tickets. Young people up to age 28 should get a ticket for 28 euros. The Deutschlandticket should stay. It should become cheaper.

On the way to free public transport, tickets for students, low-income people and seniors are to serve as a start. The 28-euro ticket for people up to age 28 is to become a standard benefit over time. The party wants to adjust the funding rules for covering transport companies' operating deficits and call on the federal government to co-finance; municipalities are also asked to provide budget funds. It also demands substantially higher federal regionalization funds. The Rennsteig ticket is to be kept and extended to the entire Thuringian Forest.

The Left wants to build a transit association for all of Thuringia that could later become a state-owned transport company. Fares and schedules are to be coordinated so that low-cost offers apply everywhere in the state.

The Left wants one transit association for all of Thuringia. Then the same prices apply everywhere. Buses and trains should fit together well. Later, the state might run transport itself.

The association is meant to make possible a statewide annual network pass, attractive job tickets and social fares across the state. It is also meant to bring free mobility for children and young people closer. The party wants to keep negotiating with counties and independent cities and to set financial incentives. It wants to examine whether a state-owned operator could organize local transport more sensibly and, with regard to social concerns, more efficiently.

The Left wants every village to be reachable by public transport. Flexible services such as on-call buses, community buses and sharing are to supplement regular lines, along with a statewide bus and rail network on a fixed schedule and more accessibility.

Small villages should also be reachable by bus and train. There should be new services for this. For example, buses you can call. Buses and trains should run on a fixed schedule. Stops should be free of barriers.

As supplementary services, the program lists express and community buses, on-call buses, scheduled taxis, car and bike sharing, request stops and pick-up apps, among others. The party points out that women use public transport more often than men. Tickets are to remain available at machines, counters and on board. Also planned are real-time information, a route planner and Wi-Fi in vehicles, as well as barrier-free stops and vehicles. A strategy commission with municipalities, operators and passenger groups is to draw up a mobility funding concept for the period to 2030.

Building on the Masterplan Schiene 2030 (rail master plan), the Left wants to reopen, electrify and expand rail lines for passengers and freight. Stations are to be renovated and the vehicle fleet renewed and enlarged.

The Left wants more traffic on rails. Old rail lines should be used again. More lines should get electric wires. Old stations should be repaired. There should be more and newer trains.

A steering group for rail infrastructure is to prepare expansion, gap closures and reactivations, for which the party demands more money from the federal government and the state. Closed and run-down stations are to be renovated and all stations well lit. In dialogue with companies, the party wants to shift transport from road to rail and fund this. A funding program is to pay for new and additional vehicles, with priority for drives using renewable energy. A state vehicle pool is to cushion breakdowns, and charging infrastructure for electric mobility is to grow.

The Left wants a comprehensive network of bike paths and a statewide bike path plan. Bicycles are to travel free on local trains, and municipalities are to get more advice and simpler funding when planning bike paths.

The Left wants more bike paths across Thuringia. Cycling should be safe, also between villages. Bikes should travel free on trains. There should be places to park and charge bikes. Towns get help with planning.

Under the cycling concept, twelve percent of all trips are to be made by bike by 2025. Bike paths are to be planned from the start when new roads are built, especially along country roads and between towns. The program provides for free parking facilities, charging points for e-bikes and cargo bikes, and public, easily accessible repair stations. An advisory office is to help municipalities with funding applications and coordinating construction. Citizen initiatives and associations are to be involved, and findings from pilot projects for rural areas are to be used.

The Left wants to develop the Road Safety Program 2030 further and cut the number of road deaths by another 40 percent by 2030. To do so it relies on traffic education, better infrastructure, more speed limits and police checks.

Fewer people should die on the roads. By 2030 the number should drop a lot. There should be more speed limits. The police should check more. People should learn more about safe behavior in traffic.

The number of injuries and accidents is also to fall noticeably. Speed limits are to be extended where the party considers them necessary and sensible. The Left wants to back municipalities' demands for noise protection, traffic calming and bypass roads and to advocate for them with the federal government. The state road requirements plan for 2030 is to be updated continuously to take account of road conditions, money and staff.

The Left rejects the requirement to put rail routes out to competitive tender because, in its view, price competition harms staff, passengers and reliable service. The procurement law is to contain a binding collective-agreement clause for local transport. The party opposes further privatization of Deutsche Bahn.

Today, companies compete for rail routes. Often the cheapest offer wins. The Left rejects this rule. Transit companies should pay union-agreed wages. The railway should not be sold off any further.

When contracts for local rail transport are awarded, companies bound by collective agreements with good working conditions and a training quota are to be taken into account. The party wants this to counter the effects of privatization in rail transport, and it also opposes selling off Deutsche Bahn subsidiaries. Transit workers are to get political backing in wage disputes for better pay and working conditions. The Left wants to consult with unions, works councils and transport companies on a joint skilled-labor and training drive. It also promotes attracting rail industry companies to Thuringia.