Just days before the federal elections in Germany, the national railways ticket is becoming an election campaign issue. Leading CDU/CSU politicians question its financial viability, but are divided on possible solutions. The debate was triggered by a statement made by Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU), who is also Chairman of the Conference of Transport Ministers. He demanded that the federal government should bear the full cost of the ticket in the future. Christian Haase, the budget policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, told Politico: „We have to be honest: The Deutschlandticket can no longer be financed beyond 2025.“ For her part, Saxony’s Transport Minister Regina Kraushaar (CDU) calls for the federal government to continue to contribute „at least half“ of the ticket’s funding. The municipalities need „a reliable funding commitment from the federal government as quickly as possible.“