AlexNL
Established Member
- Joined
- 19 Dec 2014
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- 1,685
In order to reduce the environmental impact of transport and encourage modal shift, the government has decided to reduce the rate of Value Added Tax on rail travel from 19% to 7% for all journeys of more than 50 km. (...) DB immediately promised to pass on the whole of the reduction to its passengers, which CEO Richard Lutz said would equate to a 10% cut in fares, and also forego a planned increase. This would see the cheapest ICE journeys cut from €19·90 to €17·90, or €13·40 with a Bahncard discount.
(...)
To handle the extra traffic, DB announced that it would order a further 30 high speed trainsets suitable for ‘at least’ 300 km/h.
Source and entire article: Railway Gazette: DB to order more high speed trains as government cuts VAT on fares
Very nice, that's quite a reduction and will help boost DB's competitiveness against the long distance buses.