Buying tickets for local, but also for long-distance transport via an app - this is now possible due to a new cooperation between RMV and Deutsche Bahn. From now on, users of the DB Navigator app can also purchase RMV tickets. At the same time, long-distance DB tickets are also available via the RMV app. With the expansion of its own app, RMV is a pioneer and the first association in Germany to offer this service to its passengers.
"If an RMV customer wants to take the ICE to Berlin, they can now also get their ticket via our app", says RMV Managing Director Prof. Knut Ringat. "This will make it even easier for people from the region to book journeys to destinations throughout Germany."
Customers can access the Germany-wide DB timetable via the RMV app and can also book their journey directly. Long-distance tickets are billed via DB and paid for by credit card. Neither a customer account with RMV nor one with DB is required for this. After the purchase, the customer receives a DB online ticket delivered to their smartphone, and the ticket is also sent by e-mail after the purchase. An additional printout is not required.
In order to offer this new service quickly while continuing to tailor it to the needs of passengers, the feature will initially go live as a "beta"version. Based on customer feedback, it will be further developed - for example, with more advanced booking and payment options.
DB Navigator brings RMV tickets to all of Germany
The fact that RMV tickets can now also be purchased in DB Navigator opens up new ticket purchasing options for passengers from other parts of Germany:
"Passengers travelling in the RMV area on business or holiday, for example, now do not need to install another app or create an additional customer account - DB Navigator now also offers tickets for the interconnected area from a single source. By integrating more and more associations, we are steadily developing DB Navigator into a general key for the entire public transport sector," says Mathias Hüske, Managing Director Digital Business DB Sales.
For RMV, the integration into DB Navigator opens up an additional sales channel with a wide reach. Ringat is convinced that this will make ticket purchasing more convenient, especially for passengers from outside the network. "We have to meet our customers where they are", says Ringat.
Expansion of the City Ticket for better connections
From 1 August, the City Ticket will also be included in all DB Spar and Flexpreis tickets. This allows passengers to use public transport such as S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains, trams or buses for journeys on the day of travel in the city area of the respective departure or destination station without having to buy an additional ticket on the spot. In this way, the transport associations, together with DB, make it possible to use long-distance and local public transport with just one ticket for journeys of more than 100 kilometres. The offer was previously only available to BahnCard customers. It covers the 126 largest and most popular cities and tariff associations in Germany. The ticket can be identified by the "+City" imprint on the corresponding DB long-distance tickets.
In the RMV area, the following cities are included in the +City scheme:
Bad Homburg
Darmstadt
Frankfurt o. Airport
Fulda
Giessen
Hanau
Mainz
Marburg
Offenbach
Wiesbaden
Industry-wide networking as a goal
The implementation of these new customer services as part of their cooperation are important steps by both partners towards industry-wide networking, which is the goal of the "Mobility inside" initiative. Both DB and RMV see the introduction of the mutual sale of interconnected and long-distance tickets via the apps of both partners as a starting point for the joint advancement of further innovation projects, for example in the area of digital travel assistance or ticketing of the future.
