Semester Pass

Clausthal University of Technology does not offer a semester pass. If you want to get around without a car, you can purchase the VRB’s monthly student and apprentice pass for €30. You can find more information on this page:

https://www.vrb-online.de/de/tickets/ticketuebersicht/details/sch%C3%BCler-monatskarte-gesamtnetz

Alternatively, you can buy the Deutschland-Ticket on a monthly basis. You can find more information here:

https://www.bahn.de/angebot/regio/deutschland-ticket

As of now, there is still no semester pass at Clausthal University of Technology.
A semester pass can be introduced through a student referendum. The last vote on this issue took place in 2016 and was rejected with 74.5% voting “no.”

At that time, however, it was already becoming apparent that VerkehrsLAK would conclude a more affordable framework agreement by 2018, which is why the vote did not include a long-term commitment period. The initiative was indeed finalized on October 1, 2018, and there is now a statewide semester ticket.

It is valid for second-class regional trains throughout Lower Saxony, with additional travel options to some cities outside Lower Saxony, including Hamburg, Lübeck, Bielefeld, Paderborn, Kassel, Münster, and Magdeburg. However, local transit systems in those cities (such as the HVV in Hamburg) and bus service in general are excluded.

For our local bus service, we would need to enter into an additional contract with the VRB (Verkehrsverbund Region Braunschweig GmbH). Alternatively, we could forgo the statewide ticket and purchase only a VRB ticket, which would then cover all bus and rail service within the VRB area.

Additionally, there is the option of purchasing only the statewide semester ticket and not entering into a contract with the VRB.
Ultimately, this results in three possible models, on which a survey of opinions was conducted at the general assembly on January 16, 2020. The results were as follows:

Model I: Buses and regional trains only within the VRB area, €80 per semester:
34 “yes” votes

Model II:  Buses within the VRB area and regional trains throughout Lower Saxony, €161.92 per semester:
56 “Yes” votes

Model III: Only regional trains throughout Lower Saxony, €129.59 per semester:
9 “Yes” votes

Important: A “yes” vote does not constitute approval to introduce such a ticket. The question was: “If a semester ticket were to be introduced, which model would you prefer?”
Everyone had three votes (one per model) and could therefore vote “yes” three times or “no” three times.
With 109 participants, the general assembly did not have a quorum, which is why this was merely a non-binding survey of opinion.

If the ticket is introduced, using it will definitely be mandatory for almost all students! The state-wide semester ticket has a well-defined set of exceptions, such as for leave of absence semesters and internships outside the local area. This can be found on their website under “Terms of Service.”