Monday saw ticket prices for buses, trains, Metro and light rail services across Denmark go up by an average of 4.9 percent. The exact increase depends on how far you are travelling, the mode of transport and location.

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The price hikes might not be the last public transport passengers see this year, according to a report by broadcaster DR.

Companies which operate Denmark’s various public transport services are usually only permitted to raise prices once every year, but the hope to be given extraordinary permission for a second adjustment according to the report.

“We have now increased prices by 4.9 percent and that is based on some old inflation figures,” Steen Vindum, the chairperson of the national confederation for public transport companies, Trafikselskaberne, told DR.

Specifically, the traffic companies are looking for an additional 10 percent increase in fares from May or June onwards.

“Inflation in Denmark this year [2022, ed.] has been around 10 percent, and we wouldn’t be able to introduce that increase until 2024 under normal circumstances. That’s why we’ve applied to introduce it somewhat earlier,” Vindum said.

“We simply need to cover our increasing costs for fuel in general. If we don’t do that, the consequence is that there might be fewer bus departures in future,” he also said.

“The consequence could unfortunately also be that some people think public transport is getting too expensive and choose not to use it, and that’s why this is a difficult question. We are very aware that prices shouldn’t go up too much,” he said.

Transport minister Thomas Danielsen told DR that he expected the public to generally understand a 4.9 percent increase in fares given an inflation level of 10 percent.

He did not commit with regard to additional increases.

“When inflation is almost 10 percent, an increase of 4.9 percent isn’t very much,” he said.

“I will have to have a discussion with transport companies and their owners in relation to what they envisage before I say yes or no to one thing or another,” he said.

“Increasing prices do not promote the use of public transport, but everything in our society is increasing in price. So nothing is getting cheaper at the moment because of high inflation,” he said.

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