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Deutsche Bahn imposes new drinking rules

An increasing number of railway incidents has led to "open-container" bans on alcohol in Germany's train stations and on the train platforms. Stations in Kiel, Braunschweig, and Berlin - Berlin Hbf station, and Berlin Gesundbrunnen - will come first, starting in September, with the other 5400 or so German train stations following suit after that.

Note that restaurants/bars within the stations are not affected by this new policy.

There have been some "last-straw" incidents in which railway employees have been attacked - including one death. As of now, however, the ban will apply only to the stations and platforms themselves, not on the trains, which is a little surprising since the employee who died was hurled from a train.

Personally, I think this is a good move. Not that I've seen any violence there myself, but the rise in loitering in the stations I've noticed, along with the rowdy behavior of soccer fans on game days, have been a cause for concern and often involve some folks who are actively drinking or obviously inebriated. I would guess that increased ridership as a result of the dirt-cheap Deutschland Ticket and the recent heat waves might be contributing factors as well, but "na, ja", you can't legislate the weather.

Still, I would be pretty unhappy if they end up extending the ban to passengers on the trains, a possibility that some of the authorities are calling for. Enjoying an adult beverage like an adult always makes for a more enjoyable journey,

Posted by
464 posts

given that most DB stations are unstaffed and that they don't make much attempt to impose the very old smoking bans I'm not expecting much from this.....

Posted by
118 posts

I never imagined Kiel as being an anti social behaviour hotspot, maybe it has changed rapidly in the last decade

Posted by
464 posts

The fact that Kiel is in the first batch might not mean it's a hotspot, it could be purely administrative convenience.

Drunks loitering around german stations is not a new thing, I've seen model railways where they are featured for realism! It may be something to do with the stations being Federal space where local controls don't apply - and Fedral rules are mostly not enforced.

Posted by
8288 posts

Deutsche Welle offers this on the mistreatment that railway employees are receiving from abusive passengers:

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-deutsch-bahn-trains-conductors-violence-crime-attacks/a-77892064?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

Besides the passenger frustrations of delays, cancellations and overcrowding on the trains which the video brings up, and of course the drunks, which indeed have always been there... something else crossed my mind while watching this video. A few decades ago, assaulting a ticket-checker just wasn't conceivable. But this very friendly ticket-taking people-person, in his jeans and zippered fleece, now has a permanent disability thanks to a passenger with no self-control. Way back when, DB had its own police (Bahnpolizei), and the Federal armed Border Police would hop on and question passengers randomly; ticket-checkers were gruff and dressed in heavy, authoritative uniforms, including hats. Maybe the soft, friendly, apologetic demeanor of today's train personnel isn't working so well.

Posted by
1083 posts

In 2024 I was on a train somewhere between Cologne and Boppard when a man got on at a stop, staggered down the aisle, stopped next to me and slugged me in the arm, and continued to the next car.

Posted by
11508 posts

What a horrible tragedy. My goodness.

Posted by
2481 posts

German trains are the absolute worst in Europe. Rowdy passengers are an unfortunate aspect, but terrible carriage conditions and schedules filled with hopium don't help, either.