What do the parties in Thuringia say on transport?

The AfD wants to keep kindergartens and schools in rural areas and expand bus and rail connections. Public transit is to be geared more toward families and older people. The party aims to stop people leaving the countryside and ease pressure on urban housing markets.

The AfD wants to make life in the countryside better. Kindergartens and schools in villages should stay. Buses and trains should run more often. Old people should also be able to reach a doctor easily.

The AfD wants to provide more money to maintain and expand roads and bridges, especially in rural areas. It commits to car travel and rejects a general speed limit on highways.

The AfD wants to repair and expand roads and bridges. There should be enough money for this. This matters most in rural areas. The party does not want one fixed speed limit on all highways.

The AfD rejects the so-called transportation transition and wants to repeal political rules on vehicle drivetrains where they shut many people out of car travel. No drivetrain should be favored or excluded; businesses, researchers and consumers should decide on technologies.

The AfD wants to cancel rules about how cars are powered. Everyone should choose: gasoline, diesel or electric. The government should not favor one technology. The party wants to keep the combustion engine. It opposes limits on cars in cities.

The AfD wants to expand and maintain bike paths and close gaps in the network. It rejects favoring cycling at the expense of cars and opposes government subsidies for buying cargo bikes.

The AfD wants more and better bike paths. Gaps in the bike path network should be closed. Cars should not be put at a disadvantage. The government should not pay for people to buy cargo bikes.

The AfD wants to maintain and expand local public transit by bus and rail, including on routes with few riders. It regards transit as a basic public service so that rural areas do not fall further behind.

The AfD wants to keep and expand local buses and trains. They should be reliable and cheap. Routes with few riders should stay too. The party wants to use on-call buses and shared taxis.

The AfD wants people with disabilities, children and apprentices to be able to use buses and trains at little or no cost. It rejects fare-free transit for everyone. It also wants train stations, stops and trains to be safer.

The AfD wants buses and trains to be free for some people, if possible. These are people with disabilities, children and apprentices. Everyone else should keep paying. Stations and trains should be safe.

The AfD wants to maintain and expand long-distance passenger rail by upgrading existing lines and reopening closed ones. Rail freight should also be strengthened where it makes economic sense. The party wants to keep Erfurt-Weimar airport as an asset for the region's economy.

The AfD wants more long-distance trains. Existing lines should be improved. Closed lines should be used again. More goods should travel by train. The Erfurt-Weimar airport should stay.

The AfD wants to introduce a "Thüringer Gästekarte" (Thuringia guest card) that combines tourist offers with local public transit. Thuringian families with at least three children would get it for free. Roads, local transit, cycling and hiking trails and internet access should also be expanded.

The AfD wants a guest card for Thuringia. The card works for many attractions. It also works for buses and trains. Large families from Thuringia get it for free. Roads and trails should get better.

The BSW wants more funding and a master plan for public transit so that buses and trains run on time and regularly, especially in rural areas. Regional rail is to be expanded, with a regional S-Bahn along Thuringia's chain of cities. A "Thüringen Ticket Sozial" would offer a discount on the Deutschlandticket (national transit pass) for low-income residents, school pupils and university students.

Buses and trains should run more often and on time. This matters most in the countryside. There should be more money and a big plan for this. A commuter train should link the larger cities. People with little money should get a cheaper ticket.

The BSW wants to implement Thuringia's cycling strategy with more state money for counties and municipalities. Every train station should get secure bike parking, and bike paths should be built as standard when state roads are renovated. The program sees potential in both everyday and tourist cycling.

The BSW wants more bike paths. Counties and towns should get more state money for them. Every train station should have safe bike parking. When a road is fixed, a bike path gets added. Children should practice safe cycling at school.

The BSW wants to reverse the ban on new combustion-engine cars from 2035. Under the slogan "incentives instead of bans," the auto industry is to resume research into more fuel-efficient engines and cheaper synthetic fuels. The program sees lifting the ban as a precondition for this.

From 2035, no new gas or diesel cars may be sold. The BSW wants to end this ban. Car companies should build better engines. These engines should use less fuel. Cheaper man-made fuels should also be developed.

The BSW wants to make the renovation and expansion of existing roads a focus of transport policy. Bypasses and free commuter parking at highway ramps and rural transit hubs are to be supported. Planning approval procedures for transport projects should be faster.

Many roads in Thuringia are in bad shape. The BSW wants to fix and widen them. Bypass roads should be built around villages. Commuters should be able to park for free. Plans for new roads and rail lines should get approved faster.

The CDU wants to introduce a youth ticket for local public transit and push for accompanied driving from age 16. It also wants to promote youth exchanges, leisure activities in municipalities, and young people's participation in democracy.

Young people should be able to ride buses and trains for one euro a day. The CDU also wants 16-year-olds to be allowed to drive with an adult. Every town should have activities for young people. More young people should be able to travel abroad.

The CDU considers the car indispensable, especially in rural areas, and wants to invest more in roads. It rejects a general speed limit on the autobahn. On propulsion it favors a technology-neutral approach with hydrogen filling stations and charging points.

The CDU says people in rural areas need cars. It wants to spend more money on roads. It does not want a speed limit on all highways. It wants to support hydrogen stations and charging points for electric cars.

The CDU wants to invest in modern, climate-friendly bus and rail service. Lines would run more often, a statewide bus network would be created, and flexible services such as on-call buses would supplement it. Rural train stations would be kept.

The CDU wants better buses and trains. Buses should run more often and all over the state. There should be more on-call buses and shared taxis. Train stations in rural areas should stay. Some old rail lines should run again.

The CDU wants to put more money into bike paths suited to everyday use and launch a municipal bike path construction program. Taking bicycles on local trains would become free. To improve road safety, planning of school routes would become mandatory.

The CDU wants to build more and better bike paths. People should be able to take bikes on local trains for free. Routes to school should become safer. For that, a plan for school routes should be required.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

The SPD wants long-term funding for the Deutschlandticket (nationwide transit pass) and to keep its current price. People up to age 28 are to get a ticket for 28 euros. In the long run, children and young people are to ride public transit for free.

The SPD wants to keep the Deutschlandticket. It should not get more expensive. Young people up to age 28 should get a ticket for 28 euros. Later, children and young people should ride buses and trains for free.

The SPD wants every town and village in Thuringia to be connected to public transit every day. An integrated timetable, a statewide transit association and flexible on-demand services are meant to offer an alternative to the car.

The SPD wants a bus or train to run in every town every day. Timetables should fit together well. There should be one shared ticket system for all of Thuringia. In rural areas there should also be on-call buses and taxis.

The SPD wants to put disused rail lines back into service and quickly electrify main and branch lines. All regions of Thuringia are to be connected by rail, with commuter-rail frequency as the goal.

The SPD wants to use old rail lines again. More lines should get electric power for trains. Every region should have a rail connection. Trains should run as often as a commuter train.

The SPD wants to invest heavily in bike paths and give pedestrians more space. A speed limit of 30 km/h is to be the general rule in built-up areas. Municipalities are to receive a dedicated lump sum for bike path investments.

The SPD wants to build more bike paths. Walking should also become easier. In towns, cars should usually drive no faster than 30 km/h. Towns should get money for bike paths.