No more beer or schnapps at German stations, the railway company is tired of violence

It will be prohibited to drink alcohol at stations in Germany. After an incident in which an inspector was seriously injured, rail company Deutsche Bahn has had enough. An alcohol ban will be gradually introduced at all 5,400 stations in the coming months.

This should be in force everywhere by mid-October. Last year, Deutsche Bahn reported around 5,600 violent incidents. It is not known how many of these took place at stations and how many on trains.

In about 3,000 cases, rail workers were attacked. At a number of large stations, the number of incidents decreased after measures, but things still went wrong hundreds of times. "We are now continuing, says Deutsche Bahn director Palla.

According to her, the measure is necessary for the safety of travelers and rail staff. "We too often find that in places where alcohol is used, more violence is also used. The immediate reason for the decision is an incident in which a ticket checker fell from a moving train on Friday and was left seriously injured along the track.

On the train, the man had gotten into a fight with a drunken fare driver. The man is now out of danger. Alcohol bans already apply at a number of major stations, such as those in Cologne and Hamburg.

Beer and wine may be sold there, but not consumed. Palla says that this works well: there are fewer incidents and there is also less waste. Correspondent Chiem Balduk about the situation at German stations: "A number of large stations are known in Germany as crime hotspots, which means that people do not like to go to stations, especially at night.

Women in particular indicate that they do not feel safe. The question is whether an alcohol ban significantly increases safety. According to experts, more factors contribute to feelings of insecurity, such as overdue maintenance, lack of supervision and dirty stations.

There are also no gates, as in the Netherlands, to keep out beggars and nuisance drug users, for example. For the new CEO of Deutsche Bahn, increasing safety is a top priority, in addition to improving the historically poor punctuality. She also explicitly looks at local authorities, because she believes they should also see the stations as a calling card.

With that argument, it becomes a shared responsibility, also for the price tag of that operation. The alcohol ban will soon only apply in station buildings and on platforms. Fast ICE trains have dining cars where drinks are sold and these remain open.

Drinks you bring with you may also be consumed. The condition is that there is no inconvenience to other travelers. The enforcement of the alcohol ban is now hotly debated.

The Minister of the Interior is quite open to the idea, but he still has many questions about its feasibility. Police union GdP is in favor of the ban, but says that it is unlikely to be enforceable without additional police deployment. Deutsche Bahn says that the combination of clear rules and consistent action has worked well so far.