Price adjustment: Climate ticket will be significantly more expensive from 1 January

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For the first time in three years, the Austria-wide climate ticket will be subject to a legally prescribed price adjustment in 2025. As announced in a press release today, this means that the public transport ticket will be 7.7 percent more expensive.

Now, almost exactly three years later, the responsible climate ministry has announced that the prices for the climate ticket will be increased from 2025 by 7.7 percent.

Climate ticket: steep price increase

However, the price increase is no surprise. As with the vignette, the law stipulates that the price of the climate ticket will also be adjusted.

It reads: “The Federal Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology shall adjust the prices of the nationwide climate ticket annually, for the first time from January 1, 2025, (…) by decree.”

This means that prices will increase annually from 2025. The basis for pricing is the respective change in the consumer price index of Statistics Austria. According to the ministry, this considers the transport companies’ increased costs.

Until January at the previous price

For those who make a quick decision, the climate ticket is still available at the previous price of EUR 1,095 until the end of the year. When purchasing, you only need to ensure that you select a validity start date before 1 January 2025. Then you can travel for a full year at the old, lower price.

The ÖVP club reported that the first price increase three years after the launch of the climate ticket was a pragmatic solution.

Freeze the price

The Greens had originally pushed for the prices to be frozen and, in any case, not automatically increased. The pragmatic solution was then only to allow prices to rise from 2025 in line with the consumer price index. Then, in the summer, the Greens wanted an amendment to the law to suspend the adjustment for 2025. Still, the ÖVP rejected this: “According to the BMF’s technical assessment, suspending this statutory adjustment would place an additional burden on the federal budget,” the Ministry of Finance told KURIER.

In euros, this means that the climate ticket for the whole of Austria will cost EUR 1,179.30 from 2025 instead of the previous EUR 1,095. The discounted Youth, Senior and Special tickets will be available for 884.20 euros (previously 821 euros). Tickets with a family upgrade, which allows up to four children between the ages of six and 15 to travel, will cost 1,297.80 euros (previously 1,205 euros) and 1,002.70 euros (previously 931 euros), respectively.

3.23 euros instead of 3 euros per day

This means that the 3-euro-per-day key, which Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) was only too happy to announce when presenting and marketing the ticket, is now history. Instead of three euros, the ticket will now cost 3.23 euros per day.

So if you still want to get a climate ticket for just 1,095 euros, you must be quick. The climate ticket will still be available at the previous price until the end of this year. VOR Climate Ticket holders will also be spared the increase. “The last price adjustment for VOR climate tickets took place in the fall of 2022,” they explain. At that time, however, the prices were not higher but lower.

In Germany, the Deutschland-Ticket, or D-Ticket for short, was launched in 2023 for 49 euros per month, i.e., around 588 euros per year. The D-Ticket is valid on all public transport but not long-distance trains. In Switzerland, by the way, the annual 2nd class public transport ticket costs 4,890 euros.