BERLIN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Following the German government's decision to reduce value-added tax (VAT) on long-distance rail travel, the number of passengers on the country's national rail services increased by more than 1 million in January, the German national railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) said on Monday.
In the first four weeks of 2020, the number of rail passengers increased by 10.7 percent, from 11 million to 12.2 million, year-on-year. DB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard Lutz told the German editorial network (RND) that the increase was caused by the tax cut. Passengers feel that DB is "investing massively in more trains and more staff," he said.
Lutz stressed that the entry price for long-distance travel in Germany is now only 13.40 euros (14.53 U.S. dollars), making rail travel in Germany much cheaper than many would think. The new minimum price is the "lowest regular price since the railway reform," a restructuring process started in 1994, Lutz added.
As part of a package of measures laid down in the national climate protection plan, German government reduced the VAT on long distance railway travel from 19 percent to 7 percent. DB consequently announced that it will pass on this price reduction to customers.
In 2018, DB anticipated an annual increase of five million passengers as a result of the VAT cut.
Lutz told the RND that he was "particularly pleased that since the beginning of the year we have experienced a demand that exceeds our expectations."
