Since 2020, Deutsche Bahn has been offering rentable co-working spaces at several train stations. But that’s over now. The group is responding to the lack of demand.
In the future, Deutsche Bahn’s train stations will once again be one thing above all: train stations. The federally owned company is therefore closing the so-called coworking locations, which it has been offering at several larger locations since 2020, as a spokeswoman announced. “The demand for additional mobile workstations and meeting rooms at the train station remained below expectations,” it said. This is mainly due to changes in working models since the corona pandemic.
The rentable office workplaces at the main train stations in Berlin, Hanover and Mannheim as well as in the station surroundings in Düsseldorf, Erfurt, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich-Ost and Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe will therefore now be closed. They were originally intended for commuters or business travelers who could have worked there during longer waiting times. The first location opened at the end of August 2020 at Berlin Central Station.
Operating losses in the six-figure range
But they were used too rarely. The railway also announced that annual operating losses were in the six-figure range. As part of the ongoing “S3” savings and restructuring program, the economically struggling group is divesting itself of poorly performing business areas.
In Berlin, the premises will now be used by the infrastructure company InfraGo. At other locations, Deutsche Bahn is trying to market within the coworking industry, it said.
The coworking rooms were once a component of Deutsche Bahn’s so-called “Smart City” project. By this, the group meant, for example, supplementing its infrastructure and areas with additional usage concepts. At least that part didn’t work.
Passengers should still feel comfortable at the train stations: “The focus is entirely on holistic modernization with a high level of attractiveness and a good quality of stay for all travelers who travel by train in Germany,” the company said. “That’s why the DB is currently modernizing hundreds of train stations and completing 100 train stations and transport stations every year.”
Source: Stern
