Germany's nationwide semester travel ticket

The new nationwide semester travel ticket is issued as a digital ticket on your mobile phone. Unlike the previous semester travel ticket, which was printed onto your UdS Card, you will no longer be able to use your UdS Card as a travel ticket. Once you have enrolled or re-registered with the university and paid your semester fee, you can obtain your digital ticket from the portal of the local public transport operator (saarVV). If an onboard ticket check is carried out, you will need to present the digital Deutschlandsemesterticket on your phone together with valid photo ID (e.g. an identity card).

The nationwide semester travel ticket is valid for the entire semester for which it was issued, i.e. from 1 October to 31 March for a winter semester or from 1 April to 30 September for a summer semester. Note: For students taking German language courses at the International Study Centre Saar (ISZ Saar), a different period of validity applies.

The nationwide semester travel ticket can be used on all public transport services throughout Germany, i.e. on all regular bus services, local trains, municipal light rail services, underground trains and trams. The ticket can also be used on Saarbahn services (Saarbrücken's light rail transit system) as far as the 'Sarreguemines (F)' stop. The Deutschlandsemesterticket cannot be used on long-distance train services. For more details, please refer to the information provided on the Deutsche Bahn website. Please also note that individual transport operators may impose special regional restrictions. For example, many transport operators do not allow you to take a bicycle with you if you are travelling with the Deutschlandsemesterticket.

No. Your certificate of enrolment will not be accepted as a substitute for the nationwide semester travel ticket. You must present the digital ticket (issued by saarVV) on your phone or digital device. Screenshots or printouts of the QR code are also not accepted.

Your UdS Card is still very important. It is your student ID card and will still need to be validated each semester after you re-register so that you can continue to use it, for example, to make payments in the Mensa or to borrow books from the main library. Your newly validated card will have the semester for which you have re-registered printed on it, but as of 1 October 2024, it will no longer display the saarVV logo and cannot therefore be used as a travel ticket.

Only students properly enrolled at a higher education institution are entitled to use the Deutschlandsemesterticket. If you deregister, the ticket will cease to be valid from the date of your deregistration, even if the semester has not yet ended.

The previous rules governing exemptions and reimbursements remain essentially unchanged. For more details, please refer to the General Student Committee (AStA) website. One new development is that doctoral students and students on advanced professional study programmes who are properly enrolled at the university may now apply for a refund.

The upgrade scheme will expire automatically when the new Deutschlandsemesterticket comes into effect. Based on information currently available, we do not think that you will need to terminate the upgrade agreement.